


Alpha Omega

by EmeryldLuk



Category: Marvel, X-Men (Comicverse)
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, Aromantic, Earth 616 - Freeform, Gen, Homeless kids, Mutant Special Defense Force, Original Character(s), Weapon X Project
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2019-01-04
Packaged: 2019-03-22 00:26:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 26,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13752372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeryldLuk/pseuds/EmeryldLuk
Summary: Just another homeless, unwanted mutant to everyone else, Kay is the heir of an Omega level power termed "Wisher". After escaping from Weapon X with her good friend and combat partner, Arron, they live on the streets of New York City, blending in with a gang of young mutants where no one cares about their past. Until circumstances force them apart and force Kay to change how she approaches her life.





	1. Chapter 1

She waited under the balcony of the store front. Wearing a torn pair of jeans and a red and black sports hoodie, she went unnoticed by passerbys who couldn't be bothered to take a second look at the shadow she stood in. She didn't move except to blink, staring with gray eyes at the corner just in sight at the end of the block.

There was nothing at the corner that she could see besides the street light and a garbage can. People crossed in and out of sight, rushing across the street as the light changed, strolling arm and arm, chattering loudly to be heard over the noise of the cars driving by. Though, if she waited patiently, when someone paused to go into the Walgreen's that was at that corner, she would see the door as it swung open.

And then it happened. And time slowed for her as she pushed out of her shadow. The girls dreamily retelling the best moments of a Broadway show couldn't have felt more than a breeze when she ran past them. She spun around the entering customer and jumped the turnstile. She took no care to leave no mess, grabbing sandwiches and chips as fast as she could within the space of a heartbeat.

Just as fast, she ran back out the door before that new customer had had time to step in through the open door. Down the street she sped, past the place she had waited, to the next alcove where a fourteen year old boy leaned with an old bag in hand.

Time rushed forward. He started at seeing her in front of him and looked down. The faded green eco-bag was filled with her spoils.

"I am never going to get used to that," He said and offered his other arm with a cheesy grin. "Shall we?"

She hooked his arm with hers and held on tight the way couples did. For a fourteen year old, he was tall, and it helped with the image. No one ever checked the young lovebirds for stolen merchandise after a robbery.

"You think any of it will last?" She asked.

"Probably not," He answered. "Your boyfriend has a bottomless stomach."

"That is so true," she giggled. "Aoi could eat all of this and still have room for more."

"But he better not," He said. "I'm hungry."

It took them a nimble climb over a fence and sliding past a loosely locked gate to get to the place where they lived. It was nothing fancy. An empty cellar belonging to an old lady who didn't care that they lived in her basement so long as they kept quiet and didn't draw attention. The door was on the outside, down a set of stone steps in the back of the townhouse. The only sign that this was more than it appeared was the spray painted bird on the door.

"We're back," He announced upon walking inside. Pushing back her hood, she closed the door behind them.

Within the small space, six homeless kids made it cozy with a beaten up couch in the corner with a pile of blankets on the back. A crooked metal shelf held their collection of plates, cups and silverware for days when they had hot food to eat for once. Several stolen rugs were piled in the other corner along with pillows and blankets that would be spread out when it came time to sleep.

"Whadja score this time, Jerry?" A boy with brown hair held out his hands, the light reflecting off his claw-like nails.

Jerry, the tall fourteen year old, peered into his bag. "Sandwiches and potato chips." He handed over one of the sandwiches. "One at a time, Yanar," He said to the hyper kid with a thick black bandanna over his long white hair.

One of the boys ignored the food to approach the gray eyed girl. Japanese with his hair frost-tipped, he was handsome in the way that celebrities usually are. Despite his old Rock T-shirt and oil stained jeans, he still managed to look as if he weren't living in a dirty cellar.

"Aoi," she whispered right before he kissed her, putting his hands at the small of her back. She linked her fingers behind his head, kissing back.

Sitting on the couch, the boy with sandy blonde hair whistled. "Take it off," he jeered.

Aoi pulled away so he could glare. "Quit it, Arron."

"But it was getting good." Arron grinned mischeviously. "You and Kay could make some money with a porn video."

"Would you shut up," Kay said. She stepped away from Aoi, taking a bag of barbeque potato chips from the bag Jerry held. She ripped it open and noticed the two remaining people curled up together in the corner.

Harley was a skinny guy wearing a jean jacket and cargo pants. He sat with his back to the wall, holding his sister Claire in his arms while she fluttered in and out of sleep. Kay crouched, offering him a potato chip. He shook his head.

"I'm good, Kay. I already ate this week."

"You got one convienant metabolism, Harley." Kay ate the chip. "She looks worse."

It was hard to tell much a difference besides how awake Claire was. Instead of normal skin, Claire was covered with silver scales under her leggings, pink T-shirt and black skirt. When her eyes were open, the pupils flexed, narrowing rather than widening.

Harley nodded. "Most of it is the migraine. It makes it hard for her to stay awake and coherent."

"What about painkillers? I thought we had some." Kay brushed her fingers against Claire's feverish scales.

Harley shook his head. "Used the last of them when Yanar changed."

"And no one's gone to get more?" She asked in disbelief. "What in-"

Harley held up a hand. "Calm down. Yanar and Arron already tried. For some reason the popo were watching the place. Not for them, so they got away, thank goodness."

"Fine, I'll go."

"You just got back," He protested, even as Kay made for the door.

"Kay, where are you going?" Aoi asked. She pecked him on the cheek.

"Medicine for Claire. I'll be right back."

"It's almost dark," He argued.

"The drug store's what, twenty minutes away? I'll be fine, Aoi. See you in forty."

"Be careful," He urged as she slipped out the door.

Nabbing a couple of bottles of Ibuprofen was just as easy as stealing food. She walked into the pharmacy, found the bottles and darted out the door behind someone leaving. The alarm didn't go off until she was down the block and around a corner. One of the clerks was yelling at the customer, threatening to call the police. Kay jammed the bottles into her hoodie pocket and started jogging down the street. The street lights flickered on  overhead in the dying light.

Three stepped out from between a pizza joint and a spa: one holding a baseball bat, another fitting brass knuckles onto his hand and the third flipping out a switchblade. Kay slowed to a stop as they blocked her path. She glanced over her shoulder

Cars still drove past, but the sidewalk was clear of other pedestrians. Three more formed a line at her back, the central guy moving a little closer, that cocky grin on his face.

"Jason," She stated and spat on the ground.

Jason shrugged and then folded his hands calmly in front of his belt. "Shouldn't have come out, little mutie."

"Now that just ain't right." Kay pulled up her hood and took a fighting stance. "Making a girl keep to such a strict curfew."

"You're not girl, just some genetic mistake." He raised his gloved hand and made a circling motion in the air. "Take her."

Kay let them come. She knew them all from fights before. The pudgy baseball nerd who had a habit of leaving his side open after a big swing was an uptown rebel named Simon Louis.

His best friend, a steroid user and pro-boxing hopeful, always covered on the left with his brass knuckles. Brian, that was his name, had a terrible habit of leering at her whenever he was going to throw a punch.

Always angling for the sneakiest attack possible, Phillip twirled his switchblade between his fingers as he thought in the background.

She hit Brian under his guard and effortlessly ducked back under the bat as Simon swung. Shifting like lightning, she struck to the outside, grabbed Simon's Red Sox jacket and threw him into a parked car.

Ricky and Ashir were another fighting pair. Neither of them had any formal training, which meant they had too many openings to count, but they'd been getting in street fights since childhood, making them tough and brutal.

And then there was Jason, walking closer with no sign of haste, stun baton held lightly in his right hand. He never started the fights, only instigated them.

Kay spun. She knocked down Ricky's arm and planted a knee in his abs. Ashir pulled her hair. Ricky moved to hit her in the stomach. Kay kicked him first, taking out his knee, and then threw Ashir over her shoulder. He let go of her hair, flailing to catch himself.

Phillip stabbed at her with his knife. He moved in the empty space between Ricky and Brian, gaining ground in the shadows to get at Kay. She caught his hand just barely, avoiding more than a scratch as she swept him aside and shoved his face into the concrete.

Charging back into the fray, Simon swung fast and heavy over his head. Kay thrust forward into his gut with enough force to crack his ribs and send him flying again. Simon curled in on himself, groaning in pain.

She ducked a right hook by Brian. Phillip's knife sliced through her upper arm. He stumbled past her, blood draining down his chin in ribbons.

"Getting a bit desperate, aren't you?" Kay taunted, elbowing Ricky as he stepped behind her. "You're going to need at least six more thugs to beat me, Jason."

"We'll see about that!"

Kay rolled to the side. Jason swung through empty air with his baton. He hardly missed a beat, swinging again at her head. Kay ducked and moved back from his backhand swing. She stopped with her back to a light pole. Jason roared, and bent his weapon on the pole when Kay crouched.

She pushed off with one foot. shoot straight into Jason and ramming him through the glass storefront window. Metal shutters bent around them. An alarm went off, blaring overhead.

Kay backed off, guard up and eyes fixed on Jason. His friends were now looking around, worried, for police cars. Jason slowly picked himself up, pulling a large shard of glass from his side.

"You are going to pay for that, mutie," He snarled, showing no signs of concern, only fury.

"Jason," Ricky said, "we should go before the cops show up."

"Then go, ya pussy," Jason swore, charging at Kay. She guarded, but he didn't stop, wrapping his arms around her middle and carrying her out into the street.

They ran into a car that swerved to the side and spun out. The driver got out and appeared to think about yelling at them, but thought better of that idea when neither paid him any attention.

Kay slugged Jason in the face. He reeled, clapping a hand to his jaw which began to swell. She punched again, hitting him in the ribs. Instead of trying to block or dodge, Jason threw his own punch, hitting her right shoulder.

Car horns blared. A taxi driver stepped out of his vehicle to yell at them to get out of the road. Jason ignored them, hitting Kay again. She weathered the blows, barely flinching at the body shots. Light flashed as someone took a picture.

More lights flashed in red and blue as police cars turned both corners, blocking off the ends of the street. Kay took a couple steps back, checking for her best route out, but Jason wasn't having any of it. He lunged, grabbing onto the collar of her hoodie and pulling hard.

She jumped, planting her foot into his already bloody face. He held on, but her jacket tore right along the zipper seam. She flipped backward, landing on her feet and ready to fight. He staggered, glaring daggers at her.

"Nobody move!" A cop yelled. "Both of you on the ground now!"

The fight seemed to fizzle right out of Jason. Like someone had blown out a candle and walked away, leaving the smoke to curl lazily upward. As he slowly knelt, Kay frantically thought.

"I said on the ground!" The officer ordered, training his gun on her.

Time slowed. Kay raced, moving around the four cops standing in her way even as they stood unmoving. She jumped over the cars, and ran as fast as she could, counting the seconds it took for her to reach the corner and turn it.

When time returned to normal, Kay kept running, taking the most complicated route she could think of. She ran down narrow alleys, jumped up fire escapes and crossed sets of rooftops.

It was late. Aoi would be pacing, worried sick about her. Arron would be growling at him to settle down, but inside he'd be wondering what was taking so long. Though mostly worried about his sister, Harley would keep telling himself under his breath that everything would be fine.

Kay settled on the ledge of the roof. She was just above home, but she didn't want to show up bleeding. With a little focus, her cuts and bruises faded one by one. Her torn jacket couldn't be fixed, but that was hardly something she could complain about. Others in the gang had it worse. Claire's clothes were rarely without holes and stains. Jake wore the same grease gray T-shirt that he'd had for the past year.

Relieved to find the bottle of pills still in her pocket, Kay climbed down the fire escape stairs and dropped to the pavement.

Aoi practically bowled her over in his rush to make sure she was okay. She grinned, pulling his hands away from her face.

"I'm fine, Aoi. Quit looking for owies."

"You're late, Kay," He protested. "I was sure-"

"Sure, nothing." She pushed in so the door would close and looked over the crowded space. "Jason got arrested."

"Jason- Jason got arrested?"

Arron punched the air. "Yes!"

"Serves him right," Jerry muttered.

High fives were shared. Kay ducked around Aoi so she could get over to Harley and Claire.

"Did you get it?" Harley asked.

Kay opened the bottle and handed him two pills. "Easy as ever."

"Thanks."

Harley gently woke Claire up so she could take the medicine. Kay took a seat against the wall as Arron sat next to her. He didn't say anything, but he didn't need to.

Arron was the only one that knew the extent of her abilities. The others, they only saw what she could do as super strength and speed. Of course, she avoided doing anything flashy and let that perception exist to hide.

Kay drew up her knees and laid her head on her arms.

"He tried to kill you again, didn't he?"

She looked at Arron. He tapped his chest.

"Your jacket is torn."

"Him and five of his friends." Kay put her head down again. "Nothing I couldn't handle."

"Were you seen?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they'll see it. It was just a couple of bystanders and the police."

Arron went quiet, corners of his mouth turned down as his eyebrows dipped. "They'll find out. Maybe not right away, but its only a matter of time. We should get out of here tomorrow. Hit the road again."

"What about them?"

He glanced at Aoi. "I'm sorry, but it's not safe anymore, Kay."

"It's never safe," Kay muttered. Arron cringed and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She ignored him. They sat together until Aoi finished his conversation with Yanar and shooed Arron away. Kay put her arms around Aoi and they curled up together as Jerry turned off the lights.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An attempt to get out of town goes horribly wrong. Separated from everyone she cares about, Kay learns really fast to stop hitting people.

"Okay, so I think we should head north," Arron said over the road map he'd just filched. "We can head up here to Albany."

Kay eyed the map with a sick feeling in her gut. She hated the idea of leaving even more than she had last night now that it was happening. "Why north?"

"No reason really, I just picked a direction. Anyway, we're going to need supplies."

"You want me to get the food?"

"No, it's a lot more than you can snatch and grab. I'll hit the walmart on Roxanne. You can get the rest. A couple of blankets, new set of clothes, a backpack, meal kits."

"Alright. That'll take me a couple of stores to get, but it sounds easy enough."

"Good. Meet me at the gas station next to the highway?"

Kay nodded, reluctant. Arron folded up the map and tucked it under his belt.

Her first step was to find a backpack. Which was simple enough once she found a sporting outlet. She also grabbed the mess kits, some soap and rain gear while she was in the store. The morning was quiet as if there hadn't been a fight nearby last night. Spotting Jerry hanging out with his friend Cammy made her hesitate.

She didn't want to leave. She knew she had to, but this place was nice. She had friends. She had Aoi. She didn't want to think about how he would react when she didn't come back tonight.

Backtracking to avoid her mate, she paused in front of an electronics store with a couple fancy TVs sitting out front with the news playing. The reporter was talking about some event that had happened in Washington DC a week ago.

"Excuse me?" A boy asked, tapping her on the shoulder. She turned around to look at him. He was tall with a quirky grin and scrappy looking hair, and clean with the smell of shampoo. "I'm looking for someone, maybe you've seen her?"

Kay was instantly glad she'd been wearing her hood up, because it came down low over her face and he couldn't see her completely unless she looked up at him, which she didn't. He was holding one of those brand new I-phones with a picture of her in the middle of a fight on the screen.

Kay silently shook her head and started walking fast down the street.

"Hellion," a girl said from the other direction, "What are you doing over here? We're supposed to be incognito, not hitting on chicks."

Hellion sounded like a code name. Kay paused to peer back over her shoulder to see the boy grin at a stocky girl with electric blue hair and a pair of metal gauntlets that looked sick.

"I wasn't hitting on anyone. I just asked her if she's seen this person."

The girl squinted at Kay, a look on her face that Kay didn't like. Kay took off running full tilt.

"Dumbass," the girl said, slapping the guy's arm. "That's her!"

Kay weaved past a couple of browsers and dashed across the street. Cars skidded to a stop. Blue lightning cut off Kay's path on the other side as the blue haired girl ran in front.

"Hey, we don't want to hurt you."

Kay jumped, using the girl as a springboard to grab onto the third story window. She sprang up the next floor, pulling herself up onto the roof as the boy simply levitated himself up to her level.

"Don't make me detain you, cutie-pie," He warned. Kay took a deep breath and slowed time around them. His face froze half way out of that cocky grin so it looked like he'd just sniffed a baby's diaper.

She released her time freeze as she dropped down from a fire ladder two blocks away and ran along a back street cluttered with garbage. A cook's assistant stepped out a back door, pack of cigarettes in hand and started to see her race by.

She burst out of the shadows of the alley and rolled over a parked car to cross the momentarily empty street. A taxi drove by in her wake.

A hand wrapped in lightning grabbed Kay's elbow as she ran to the corner. Her foot slipped. She turned and used the blue haired girl as a counter balance to keep from falling.

"Why are you running?"

Kay stared. "Why wouldn't I? I'll never go back." She raised her hand in a fist, blue lightning just like the other girl's curling over her fingers, but her arm never moved. Kay looked at her hand, wondering why it wouldn't move, but she couldn't see anything strange.

There he was again, levitating in the air above the street, the boy with black hair and a permanent smirk. "Saved your ass, Surge," he said.

"Don't lose her this time." the girl muttered, letting go of Kay's elbow.

"I did not lose her, she teleported."

"Didn't look like teleportation to me. Is Ms. Frost close? I don't like the way this chick is looking at me."

"She's on her way. In the meantime, perhaps we can talk?" He lowered himself down to the pavement, but still held Kay's arm with his telekinesis. "I'm Hellion and this is Surge."

"Let. Me. Go." Kay growled, straining to pull free. He frowned, holding against her effort.

"Can't do that. What's your name?"

Kay closed her eyes to focus. She pushed against his power with her mind and he pushed back. Watching the two of them, the girl with blue hair felt the air grow tense.

"Hellion, what's happening?"

"She's... fighting me. Trying to break my hold somehow." He grunted, "I thought she was really fast at stealing, not telekinetic."

"Damnit." In a burst of lightning, she punched Kay in the face. Kay reeled, losing concentration.

"Thanks," he gasped. "Felt like I was fighting with myself."

"Everything alright?"

The woman with long white blonde hair was stunning in a cold way. She wore a dress suit of white that was barely a shade off from her skin.

"You said she showed signs of super speed," the boy accused, strain in his voice.

The  woman circled Kay. "That was the report I was given. Who are you?"

"Oh, like you don't know," Kay snapped. "Testing your toys on me is soo classic, Lady. But I will never go back."

"But I don't know. Your mind is blocked off to me."

"Of course it is. You guys trained me so I couldn't be read by telepaths. What kind of game are you playing?"

Kay watched the woman pacing around her with an unreadable expression.

After a brief moment, she asked, "Who do you think we are?"

Kay rolled her eyes. "Right, because that's a question I'm totally going to answer."

"Uh, Ms. Frost," the boy said, "I'm not sure I can hold her forever. I'm getting some mental resistance still."

"Fine, we'll finish this conversation elsewhere. _SLEEP_." The single word echoed in Kay's mind. She tried to stay awake, but her eyelids became heavy and drooped.

Julian watched as the girl they'd been hunting all day fell asleep, dangling in the air. She was cute, even if he was nervous about how powerful she had felt. Satin black hair in a spunky haircut and eyes stark against her pale skin.

"You're staring," Noriko teased, elbowing his ribs. Julian jumped and turned a shade of pink.

"Sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, she's pretty good looking. Just don't let it go to your head."

"Time to go, kids," Emma Frost cut in. "Hellion, carry the girl. She won't stay asleep forever."

 

The first thing Kay saw was a tiled ceiling that she didn't recognize. She sat up with a jolt, and tumbled from the hospital styled bed she had been lying in. Gray tiles made up the floor of the small windowless room. Medical machines sat in the corner, though they were turned off right then.

Kay tried the door and found it locked. She pressed her ear to the door and listened for a full minute. Hearing nothing on the other side, she took a step back and kicked down the door. The hallway outside was short, but empty. Three other doors just like hers lined the wall leading to a door with a large meshed window in it. Seeing something move on the other side, Kay ducked back into her room.

The door opened.

"Look, You may think Emma is going overboard with this one, but you didn't talk to Julian. The kid was freaked just by looking at the girl and I've never seen him so shaken."

"Fear is no reason to treat someone like a prisoner. She's what, fifteen? How do you think she'll feel when she wakes up in a locked room."

"All I'm saying- what the hell happened to the door?"

Kay took a quick peek around the corner. Long red hair draped over the shoulders of the woman wearing a white camisole under a green jacket. She had come to a dead stop, staring at the door laying in the hallway with a foot shaped dent in the middle of it. Behind her stood an imposing man who reminded Kay of a jock; the muscles, carefully combed brown hair and square jaw just screamed sporty. The odd thing was the pair of reflective red sunglasses he was wearing- indoors.

He turned to the open doorway. Kay ducked back in, too late.

"Hey, kid," he started. She didn't wait for him to spout something tricky. Kay charged out of the room and jumped right at him. He raised his hands and froze long enough to get kneed in the face.

"Scott!" the woman yelled.

"I'm fine." He grabbed onto Kay, pinning her to the wall with one hand. "Kid, I'm not here to hurt you."

"Bullshit," Kay replied, bringing her foot up into his chest, forcing him to let go or end up with a broken sternum.

A shot of red light blasted a hole in the wall next to Kay's head. She jerked away, nearly falling on her butt.

"Settle down. We are not your enemy."

Kay looked between him and his friend. "Who are you guys?"

"Scott Summers. And this is Rahne. What's your name?"

She hesitated. "I go by Kay."

"Alright, Kay, Shall we go somewhere else? I'd like to talk with you."

"No," Kay stiffened. "I'm leaving. My friends are going to be looking for me."

"You are free to leave, but I should let you know that the police know what you look like now."

"That's my problem, not yours." Kay took one cautious step towards the exit. "So, I can leave?"

"Of course."

Rahne questioned, "Are you sure that's smart? I'm all for free choice, but we found this kid on the street; on the run from a group that scares the crap out of her."

"I can take care of myself, thank you."

Rahne folded her arms. "All I'm saying is we can help you, kid. Whoever you're running from, we can hide you from them."

"Not likely." More confident now, Kay strode to the door and opened it. Scott followed her closely.

"Are you sure you want to leave right away? It might be hard to believe, but it is safe here."

She peered down the corridor made of metal walls that seemed all too familiar. Shoving down a gut-wrenching reaction to bolt, she asked, "Which way to get out?"

"This way." Scott lead her to an elevator. "May I ask you a personal question?"

"What?"

"Who are your parents?"

There was a ding and the elevator door opened. Kay stepped in. Scott hit the ground level button.

"I hope that isn't too much to ask."

She looked at her shoes. "Not much to say. I don't remember having parents. Does it matter?"

"It's nothing."

Kay paused, shifting her thoughts to his. After sifting through the wave of emotion and images, she looked up at him.

"Who's Kina Cortland?"

He started. "How did you- Are you telepathic?"

"I'm whatever I want to be. So, who's Kina Cortland and why does she look like me?"

The elevator door opened onto a new floor, wood flooring gleamed in reflections of the windows. A pair of boys dressed in jeans and T-shirts passed by holding textbooks.

"Kina was an X-man. For a short amount of time at least. And I don't know why you look like her. Perhaps we can help you find out. Would that be a reason to stay?" Scott lead the way.

"You think she's my mom?" Kay stared at him while she walked. "But she's dead. I can see that in your mind. She's been dead for so long."

"Fifteen years. Just long enough. You don't look much younger than that."

She shook her head. "I think you're reaching."

"Probably." He stopped and motioned to a door surrounded by fancy woodwork and stained glass. "The front door. If you really want to leave. This place could be a new home for you."

Kay looked over her shoulder, feeling lingering thoughts nearby and lit on a group of teenagers. The central boy with a buzzcut and a pair of thick glasses was staring wide eyed at her. Next to him was the blue haired girl from before and a boy with golden skin.

"I don't think I'm welcome here, Scott," Kay said.

Scott looked where she was looking. With a small smirk, he waved for them to come over.

"Hey, you," the girl with blue hair said. "Are you going to run away from us again?"

"She's still deciding. Kay, This is Noriko, David and Josh. They're students here at the school."

Noriko waved with her fingers. "So, your name is Kay."

Kay cringed, looking at David. "Yeah, my name is Kay."

"How about a tour? We got some free time right now. We could do a circuit of the school, show you the best places."

"Uhmm," Kay hesitated, dropping her gaze. "I don't he wants me here."

Noriko looked from her to David. "David? What's she talking about?"

David looked uncomfortable like he'd been caught cheating on a test. "It's her mind. She's been trained to kill."

"We're all capable of killing, David," Noriko said. "Well all of us except Josh."

"Sure," he argued, "we all could kill, but she's different. If she really wanted to, she could kill each and every one of us right this moment. I've got it all in my head."

Noriko scowled. "I don't think that's a good reason to make her leave."

"So, you're perfectly okay bunking with a trained assassin?"

Scott moved his hand, hoping to comfort Kay by placing it on her shoulder, but when he looked down, she was gone. He tested the air in case she'd just turned invisible, but then Noriko groaned.

"She ran away again," Noriko explain, pointing to the open door. "She's got this ability to freeze the people around her. Ms. Frost explained it to me and Julian."

Scott let his hand fall. "I need to make a few calls. Noriko, would you keep an eye on Kay? She couldn't have gotten too far yet."

"Yeah, I can do that. I'm excused from classes then?"

"For today."

It didn't take Noriko long to find Kay. Kay had only run a little bit down the long driveway before turning time back on. Noriko sped up to her and then slowed down to walk next to her.

Kay didn't say anything, hoping if she ignored Noriko, the girl would go away like a bad dream. She couldn't hear her thoughts anymore and she didn't want to.

Noriko didn't leave, she staying right next to Kay, silent until they'd gone far enough to the gates to be visible.

"So, you're going to walk all the way back to New York?"

"Yes."

"That's a long way to walk."

"So?"

"Just saying."

Kay stopped suddenly. Noriko stopped after two more steps and turned to ask why, but didn't when she saw a look of confusion on Kay's face.

"Why does it even matter?" Kay asked. "I'm a nobody. The only reason anyone pays attention to me is because I'm a mutant. You guys wouldn't care if I was just a regular homeless kid capable of running fast."

"Well, I guess, but I do care. You're not a normal kid and that goes for everyone here."

"So, stop caring. I'll just end up hurting you."

Noriko giggled. "Is that what you're worried about? I guarantee I can take care of myself."

"You say that, but that guy, Dave, he's right. I was trained to kill. I'm too dangerous to stay here."

"One, his name is David, and two, he is not right. All he does is absorb skills from the people around him. He doesn't get it. I run as fast as lightning. Julian is an A class telekinetic who could throw a bus at you with his mind. Kevin kills anything organic he touches, literally. There's a boy who uses fire."

Kay hugged herself, thinking of Arron. "Did you guys even think about me when you brought me here?"

"Of course we did," Noriko insisted.

"You kidnapped me. Maybe it's safe here, but you have no clue how many people are out there, with no home, no family. You didn't give me time to let anyone know I would be gone. You might think it's normal for homeless people to move on without a word, but its not."

"Sorry," Noriko said after a quiet moment. "We were following instructions. Ms. Frost thought it would be best to bring you back to the school right away."

"Everything I hear about this Ms. Frost just makes me hate her even more." Kay scowled. "She apparently thought it was a good idea to lock me up."

"I'm sure she was just worried. Ms. Frost is very protective of the students here."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better about it?"

"I guess not."

Kay glowered at the gate. She couldn't help but be angry. Any choice she had in what to do had been ripped away from her. Arron could be anywhere by now.

"Why did you even follow me? Did you think you could change my mind?"

Noriko answered with a small smile, "I think Mr. Summers likes you. In a nice way, I mean. That came out creepy. He wanted me to keep an eye on you for today."

Kay sighed. "It's not that. I look like someone he used to know. But he's got it all wrong."

"He's got what wrong?"

"He thinks she's my mom, but she died fifteen years ago and I don't even know if I'm old enough for that. It's just coincidence."

"But that's cool. What if he's right. Then you're not a nobody. Even if he isn't, this is a good place to find out. A lot of the kids here don't have anywhere else to live. You don't have to be homeless, Kay."

Kay looked around at the expanse of greenery and the height of the large school beyond. She could remember how the other kids would talk about having a home, though it had never seemed real to her.

"One day," Kay announced after a long moment. "I'll give it a day, but no promises."

"That is so better than nothing at all. What would you like to see first? We've got an awesome cafeteria, and a sports ground. There's a pool, and the memorial garden which is full of statues. I could show you the hangar or, oh, the danger room. Don't worry, it's safer than it sounds."

"Uhh, whatever's closest?"

 

In his office, Scott waited impatiently for the screen to change back from the 'On Hold' screen he was stuck looking at. Not that anything he said would make the military hurry up even if he was familiar with the commanding officer in charge.

A glance at the clock told him he'd been waiting for a full five minutes when the screen changed. A red haired asian wearing a black camo patterned uniform scowled at him from what looked like his own office.

"Scott, This isn't exactly a good time for me to be getting personal calls. I'm trying to deal with a problem escalating in Malaysia."

"Yaun," Scott replied, stuffing down an urge to tell the man he didn't give a wit, "I've got a situation you might be interested in."

"Does it have to do with militant mutants trying to take over the government?"

"No, it has to do with your late wife."

Yaun scowled melted. "What about Kina? Did you find a body finally?"

"Unfortunately, this is a bit more complicated. We found a girl who looks an extraordinary amount like her. I'll transfer you the photo we got of her." Scott hit a few keys, activating the data transfer. "It's a bit blurry because it was taken during a fight, but I swear, the moment I saw her, I was so surprised I couldn't move. She looks just like Kina when she first came to the school. That was nearly forty years ago."

"A girl, huh." Yaun rubbed his temple. "I don't remember Kina being pregnant that last year before she- well, you were with her, you would know."

"I remember Kina hating me for something I never did, Yaun. I'd like to think I'd have noticed her being pregnant, but knowing her, I don't really know that she'd want us to."

Having obviously seen the photo from his unnerved expression, Yaun slowly nodded. "You're probably right. If I'd have known, well, I'd have insisted on her staying home. I did exactly that when she was pregnant with Kita. And this girl does resemble Kina. Where did you find her?"

"Streets of New York. A local contact called Rahne about a mutant able to move fast that had been a pain in the robbery division for the past year. Except it turns out she can do a lot more than just move fast, she hits hard, used telekinesis against one of my students as well as using telepathy on me. Ah, before you interrupt, she's on the run from a group, hasn't said which, but there aren't a lot of groups that will train young mutants as weapons."

"Can I say something now?"

"Yes."

Yaun folded his hands in front of his chin. "There's also a possibily it IS Kina. We never found a body and Kina's power was never fully known even to her. Mind, I think that possibility is incredibly slim. Can you keep an eye on this girl for me? At least until I have the time to come see her for myself?"

"I'll try. There's not much I can do if she goes back to hiding."

"Thank you. whoever she is, I don't like the idea of someone turning a Wisher into a weapon. The United States government tried to do that to Kina and she kinda just blew them up instead."

"I remember," Scott muttered. "Nick Fury was on the phone for days, telling us to go track her down."

"Try being on the other end. The military and SHEILD had me tied up in questioning for a month before they accepted that I had nothing to do with it. Talk about headaches." Yaun shook his head to himself. "Anyways. Thanks for the headsup. If anything happens, anything drastic that might require me, get a hold of Kita. She's state-side with her squad on reserves for the moment."

"I will do that. So sorry to have interrupted your day." Scott moved his hand to terminate the call.

"No you're not," Yaun responded before the feed cut.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kay's first day at the Academy leaves a bit to be desired, but she meets new people and begins to think she might have something better ahead.

After a somewhat nerve wracking tour, Kay constantly felt like she was being watched though she only caught a few students staring at her, Noriko introduced her to Ruth Aldine. Ruth wore a blindfold over her eyes and a purple, fringed shawl over her jeans and t-shirt.

"Most people just call me blindfold," Ruth said, holding out a hand. "They think it's cute, yes"

"Is it?" Kay asked, hesitating to take Ruth's hand.

Ruth giggled. "It's okay, I do nothing anything funny, mental stuff like reading minds and precognition."

"I didn't-"

"I know." Ruth lowered her hand. "Would you like to come in? You can make yourself comfortable."

Ruth was talking about the open door at her back, which allowed Kay to see a neatly made bed and a dresser stacked with books.

Noriko gave Kay a light push on the shoulder. Ignoring Kay's obvious negative reaction, she said, "You'll do great. I'll see you around later? Me and my friends like to get together in the library for a study session after classes."

Kay smoothed down her instant urge to punch Noriko into the wall, taking a couple of deep breaths before she replied. "Maybe. Thanks, for the tour."

"No problem. Bye then." Taking off in a streak of blue light, Noriko was gone before anyone had a chance to respond. Ruth frowned and shook her head.

"No. She has no clue. She will, in time, perhaps. Please, come in."

Ruth moved back into her room, sitting not on the neatly made bed, but one against the other wall that was in a state of mess with the blankets scrunched against the wall and the sheet shoved to the side. The dresser by it was mostly clear, all but for a couple of sketch books and an array of colored pencils. Kay could not quite tell what the top drawing was of, but it looked almost like a child's drawing. Kay looked to the set in view of the door and saw that the books were historical texts, the kind of thing she had been most eager to read in the past year.

In addition, when her eyes slid over to the bed, her hands picking up the top text, 'A study of World War II', she froze upon a stack of clothes. "What?"

"You'll need them. Pardon, but I did try to pick out stuff you would like." Ruth didn't even seem to miss a beat, responding to every thought Kay had. "I'm precognitive. Sorry. It's a habit. No. Not everyone with a power is bad, but you knew that. You won't have a chance to visit the library for a couple days. I wanted to save you the time. You're welcome. I won't tell. David will get over his fright tomorrow. Sorry."

Ruth ended her monologue with a wince. Kay took a breath. "That was weird."

"I like you."

"Why?"

"Because you care. Not many do."

"I've barely said anything."

"But you will."

"Okay."

"Pardon, but if you want to read, Ms. Frost will be here in an hour once she's done with her squad training session."

Kay looked down at the book in her hand. "Why?"

Ruth shrugged. "That, I do not know. Please. It's a good guess."

Kay tried sitting on the bed, but found it too soft for her to get comfortable. Ruth sat on her bed, listening to something on her Ipod, an amused smile on her face. Tired of shifting around, Kay moved to sitting on the floor with the book in her lap. It was the oddest feeling she had, being there and doing nothing but reading. She wasn't worried about what to eat, or if everyone would come home safe. She wasn't running through endless battle simulations or sitting in the back of a truck waiting to be given orders. She was just sitting on a carpeted floor in a bedroom with a book in her lap.

Half way through the chapter on Hitler's rise to power, Kay was distracted by a knock on the door. She looked to Ruth, who simply motioned with her head. Setting aside the book, Kay got up to open the door.

It was the lady with bleach blonde hair. Her clothes were different, casual pants and a strapless shirt under a light jacket, but everything she wore was mostly white again. She stood there, face expressionless.

"Please come with me."

Kay didn't move. "Why?"

"I would like to see exactly what you are capable of." Emma mentally sighed. She would put up with Scott's insistence, but she didn't have to just accept his decision. "Part of the school's curriculum involves training with your power so that you can live without it getting out of control."

"I don't need that. I've been trained with my ability since I was five."

"Maybe not, but I still want to see what your ability is. You're a new addition to the school and no matter how sure Scott is, I want to see for myself."

"Fine," Kay muttered, finally choosing to step out into the hall. Emma walked away, head held high and long legs taking long strides. Kay shifted her gait to keep up, but didn't try to stick too close.

The place they went to was the danger room, beyond a electronically locked metal door. Different from the gymnasium set up she had seen with Noriko earlier, this time, she walked into a large white room with a three story ceiling and tiled walls lined with sensors. Standing together like they'd been in the middle of an argument was Julian and five others.

The girl made of metal with ginger hair looked down when Kay and Emma entered. Next to her, the black kid with dreads squinted, studying Kay. The one who looked the most upset was a tall white kid dressed from head to toe in black, including a pair of black gloves. The instant the door opened, he took a step back from Julian, furious about something. Julian stood there, proud and not one bit happy with a big guy made of rock behind him and a muslim girl in black standing off to the side as if she had refused to take part.

"Hellions," Emma introduced. "This is Kay. Kay, this is one of the few teams in the school. Teams train together and participate in school events together. Of course, you already know Julian, their leader."

Kay glanced over each of the teenagers facing her. "Any why are they here? You just want to see my ability in person, right?"

"That is why they are here," Emma answered. "What better way to observe than to see it in a fight. If you really are a Wisher, than six on one shouldn't be a problem."

"No." Kay ground her heel into the holographic floor. "I did not agree to this."

"It's perfectly safe. We have safety protocols in here to prevent people from being hurt."

"That is not my problem. I will NOT fight people for your benefit. I am a person, not a tool or a weapon."

"That is not what I-"

Kay cut her off. "You know, Noriko made me think this place was better. But I guess it's just like everything else. You're born with an awesome powerful ability and then used by someone weaker. I was wrong. I'm leaving." She turned and strode back to the door.

"Don't you dare talk to me that way, Young Lady," Emma snarled. Kay couldn't move. "I guess your keepers never taught you to respect your elders, but here I am in charge."

"Let. Me. Go."

"Not until you learn a little humility. I never liked the last Wisher because she was so stuck up and arrogant with her ability. You're no better."

Kay tried to move, but her legs just wouldn't listen. "Right, because you're totally the picture of humility."

"I am certainly not going to put up with lip from a child."

"You want me to fight? I'll fight." Fire burst around her hands, dancing as if alive. With a simple command, the flames grew in size and broke away, streaming towards Emma. The muslim turned into a wave of sand that shifted in front of Emma, even as the woman moved back. It was enough that Kay could move again. The fire vanished just as fast as it appeared. Kay turned around and waded right into Emma through the sand girl. Lightning turned the air crisp and dry. Kay punched and lightning struck. The lightning split around Emma as the woman's body turned to diamond.

"Whoa," the girl made of metal cringed, "Lightning is not cool."

Julian began to levitate, lifting himself six feet up into the air. "Cessily, keep your distance. Brian cover Cessily. Sooraya and Santo, we're going to box her in."

Sand whirled, creating a moving wall around Kay's right side. Kay drew in enough electricity to make the hologram flicker unsteadily and then discharged it right into the wall of sand.

Yelling as lightning tore through her personal sandstorm, Sooraya reformed as a human, gasping for air. Kay lost no time in closing the distance, punching the girl in the face with a fist turning into granite. Sooraya tumbled, knocked unconscious.

Roaring, Santo crashed into Kay, slamming down on her back with both rock hard fists. Kay hit the floor, but suffered no damage. As she got up, her transformation into a living hunk of granite completed. Santos hit her again. She took the blow, arm  crumbling a little under the weight, and returned one right back. His left arm cracked when he tried to absorb her punch.

Winding up again, Kay was jerked off her feet by Julian's telekinesis. She dangled in the air, upside down for a brief moment before letting her body return to normal.

"Is that all you got?" Julian asked. What happened to the speed you used in New York?"

Kay glared at him. "Do you think I'm useless like this or are you just that much of an idiot?"

"Excuse me?"

Kay focused on a single image. One of her missions had ended with her sucking the moisture per orders out of the target. He'd been left a mummified bag of bones and dry meat.

Julian yelped, losing concentration. Both of them fell to the floor. Kay managed to cushion herself with her arm, but Julian collapsed awkwardly, hitting his head on the tile.

"What just happened?" Santo asked. His large rock head swiveled from Kay to Julian.

Kay picked herself up, rubbing the bruise she could feel up and down her arm. "This." Using the same memory, she strengthened the projection. They felt everything she'd felt: the rush of andrenaline, the power in her hands, and the feel of the African man's life evaporating.

The projection cut off as if with a knife. Emma commanded, "Enough of that."

"Absolutely." Kay blinked slowly. This time she really was moving fast. In the span of a few seconds, she attacked each of them except for Santo. Hitting Cessily, the metal girl, felt odd, but only as odd as punching a large block of jello. She ended the move by throwing Julian into Santo and then moving behind Emma.

Brian stumbled over backwards into Cessily who's body went out of shape for a moment. The sixth doubled over, clutching his stomach while blood dripped from a broken nose. Julian and Santo collided, with Julian falling in Santo's arms. Emma whirled around.

"You happy yet?" Kay sneered. "Because I can keep going if you like."

"Insolent girl, do you even know what you just did?" Emma sucked in a lungful of air. "Projecting memories into other people can have disastrous effects!"

Kay cracked her neck. "No more than someone being able to telepathically control another human. Should I do that next?"

"I knew from the start this was a bad idea," she seethed. Kay silently wondered if she was going to start steaming from the ears. "Kina was bad enough. You're not only egotistic, but undisciplined and pathological. Scott should have never let you stay."

"Glad we're finally being honest about something." Kay rolled her eyes and saw Julian staring shell shocked at her. "What?"

"You punched Kevin."

"Kevin?"

Emma looked down and smirked. "Look at that. Not so invincible."

Kay looked to see what was so interesting and saw that the skin on the back of her hand and knuckles had rotted away, leaving muscle and bone exposed. She sighed and shifted her focus to healing herself. The process took longer than it should have. The rotten flesh resisted being healed, but eventually did. After, she felt exhausted with the start of a headache.

"Can I go now, or do you feel entitled to yell at me some more," she grumbled.

"Ms. Frost," Julian said, "I'll keep fighting if you insist, but the rest of the team could use time to rest."

Emma looked as if she'd just gotten a rotten birthday cake. "No, we're done. She is quite clearly a Wisher, attitude aside. However, I will be speaking with Scott in length about her lack of issues with using certain powers." She shot a warning look at Kay and swept out of the room.

Kay stuck her tongue out at Emma's back, earning one quiet giggle from Cessily.

"You didn't say she had spunk, Julian" Cessily said once Emma was out of earshot.

"How was I supposed to know? I talked to her for all of two seconds." Julian looked around and the ran over to Sooraya.

"She's just knocked out," Kay told him. "I'm not a killer."

"Ms. Frost seems to disagree," Brian said and then cringed when Kay glared at him. "I'm just saying. That was a pretty disturbing image you put in our heads."

"Just because I know how to and have done so, doesn't mean I like it. Not like any of you had problems with fighting me. How is it, doing exactly as you're told no matter what?"

"We did not-" Brian threw up his hands. "That is exactly what we were arguing about before you got here."

"Brian," Julian cut in, "Argue later. We need to get Sooraya to medical."

"You take her, Julian," Brian responded. "It's your fault for being such a suck-up."

"We're a team, Brian. This isn't on Julian." Santo knelt, gently curling his stone hands around Sooraya.

"Whoever's fault it is," Kay said, moving towards the open door, "No need to worry about seeing me again. I am so not staying."

Kay made it to the stairwell before getting hit by a wave of nausea that always accompanied the headaches. Clamping a hand over her mouth, she lowered herself down onto the first step and sat down to wait, glad there wasn't anyone around at that moment. She could hear laughter upstairs, but sitting there at the bottom of the steps, she was properly alone; for a brief minute.

Cessily tiptoed over, stopping at a distance. Kay stayed quiet, hating how her head pounded.

"Are you really going to leave?"

Kay didn't answer.

Cessily crossed her arms. "Well, I guess it's easy for you. You look normal. You probably have somewhere to go and people that miss you. I just wanted to say not to judge us all based on the headmistress."

"You think just because I look normal, I've got it good?"

"No, I just mean you can blend in."

Kay rubbed her temple, glowering. "Blend in, that's one way for being just another homeless kid in New York. You got it backwards, girl. I'm not leaving because I got somewhere better to be, I'm leaving because I won't be used. I'm a person, not a weapon. And I'm not the only one out there."

"Sorry. About everything. I think you got a cool power. You can be whatever you want. I'm just, stuck."

"If I could make you normal, I would."

Cessily's eyes widened. "You would?"

Kay nodded. "A girl I know, her name is Claire and she's got a mutation that makes her skin all scaly. She's only twelve and too terrified of the world to go out, so her brother has to take care of her. But my power doesn't work that way. I can't heal away your genetics."

"Oh, sorry, I was surprised. Everyone always tells me there's nothing wrong with the way I look. And all I feel is envious of them for having such convienant powers."

"Those are people who've never been in your situation. Or mine." Kay rubbed her hands. "It's not like I want to leave. I just can't stay if I'm going to be treated that way."

"Ms. Frost isn't involved in everything. She- she can be extreme, but she's only the headmistress." Cessily hesitated. "I know I don't know you, and you're so different from the rest of us, I'm sure, but if you could just give it some time, maybe you'll find a way to stay."

Kay started to stand. Half way up a wave of dizziness and nauseas hit her a second time. She grabbed onto the railing and sat back down on the steps.

Cessily moved closer. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Kay growled. She took a deep breath and added, "I'd like to be alone now."

"Oh, okay."

Ruth looked up when Kay walked back in, looking a bit pale and grumpy, but said nothing. She simply put away her things and turned off the light while Kay curled up in her bed.

 

 

Kay didn't usually dream. She assumed it was part of her mutation or something. She was the type of person that fell asleep the moment her head hit the pillow and woke up grumpier than a cop past midnight. Sometimes other kids talked about having strange dreams that were just too surreal to think about and she'd listen without having much of anything to add.

When she did dream, it was always clear as day and so vivid she was never sure it had been a dream. It was always the same with a stunning mountainside view and being surrounded by pine trees. The air always smell of tree sap and fresh dew and damp moss. The sun was always just above the horizon, but hidden by a cloudy sky that never rained, but always seemed ready to.

Kay opened her eyes to pine needles and the single crow that looked down at her and cawed loudly before flying off into the sky. She breathed in the fresh air, wondering if she was imagining this place. She knew it was a dream; it had happened so many times by now.

After the crow, there would be some birdsong and a drop of water would hit her bare arm. Never failing, she would be wearing a tank top and jeans, black hoodie tied around her hips. Kay reached up, feeling the ruby studded, silver necklace around her neck. She'd never seen its like except here in this dreamscape.

Kay began walking. That was the only difference she had noticed. The scenery never changed, nor the order of animals she'd cross, but her actions and the other's, those changed. If she walked up the mountain, the trees would grow thicker and eventually she'd find a cozy cabin with a breath-taking view of the valley on the other side of the ridge. If she stepped off the path, she might come across the stream that flowed paralell to the path, or she might see the foxhole by an old rotted tree stump.

For now she walked downhill a little ways. The path was tough and knotted, packed dirt that had been traveled regularly by the wear. It wound naturally through the trees, pushing past bushes that had already bloomed.

A couple hundred feet down, the path split, the right side continuing it's downward angle while the left curled off at a more level plane. Kay went left.

Until that day, Kay had never known anything about the woman who sat in a tiny glade surrounded by flowers. Long black hair tumbled down the side of her face and over the front of her shoulders with a single grouping of braids looping around the back. Her eyes were never the same color. She could remember watching as brilliant blue irises turned silver and now they were for some reason a light shade of purple.

Even while wearing a black leather jacket, gray cargo pants, a purple harry potter shirt and brown hiking boots, she radiated a feeling like a delicate glass sculpture that might break with one touch. It contradicted her muscular body and confident smile.

"You're Kina Cortland, aren't you?" Kay said, standing at the edge of the flowers.

Kina plucked a flower from the ground and held it in her fingers for a few seconds before it turned to dust. "That is not a name I expected you to know."

"I've met some people."

"I'm glad."

"You could have told me."

"Would it have changed anything?"

Kay put her hands behind her back. "No, but it would have been nice to know."

Kina stood and walked up to Kay, cupping her face with her hands. Kina was only a few inches taller than Kay. "Are you safe?"

"For now," Kay answered, pulling away. "But I don't know what to do."

"What's the matter?" Kina inquired, concern creasing her forehead. "You've never pulled away before."

Kay looked down at her feet while she steeled her nerves. "You're real. I mean, an actual person with a life and everything. Why are you in my head?"

"I'm not in your head, Kay."

"Of course you are. This is my dream and you're in it."

Kina's eyes seemed to be laughing as she smiled softly. She explained, "I was hurt. My body was damaged to such a degree that it couldn't heal normally. I don't know where I am, but where ever I am, my mind is still active, here in this memory. This isn't a dream, Kay. I've been drawing you here, touching your mind in the only way I'm capable so we can talk."

"This is real?"

"Yes."

"Does that mean I'm in your head?"

"No," Kina laughed. "This is a mental space. A neutral ground so to speak. My last good memory before Logan dragged me out of retirement."

Kay stared at Kina. She'd known this woman for the past six years, from the dreams in which Kina would talk to her, give her advise that she had used without question. It always worked to some degree, but in hindsight, she was freaked out by how willingly she had trusted a stranger.

"Why me?" was Kay's next question.

"Because you were the first person I found. I took one look at you and knew I had to do something. Maybe it was just an instinct or maybe there was a reason for it, but you needed guidance and it's not like I've had much else to do."

"So it was just coincidence?" Kay took a step back, not sure what the feeling was rising up in her throat. It was hot and acidic. "I might have never met you, never had a chance to free myself from that place?"

Kina winced. "I don't know. When I use a new power, I never know how it will work. I just reached out for something and found you. Is that wrong?"

"I thought you were a figment of my imagination. Something my mind created when I felt distressed. But I don't know you, really, do I?"

"I guess not." Kina rubbed her fingers together. "I know you, but I've never talked about myself. That's not fair to you."

"No, it's not!" Kay raised her hands to her face. Her fingers came away wet, tears running down her cheeks. "I'm upset."

Kina apologized, "I'm sorry. I only wanted to help. I never meant to hurt you."

"Hurt me? How is this hurting me?"

"The body isn't the only part of you that feels pain. So does your heart."

Kay just crumpled, not knowing what to do and unable to stop what was happening. Kina fidgeted, obviously wanting to do something like hug Kay, but all too aware it wouldn't help. So she waited, anxiously.

When the tears ran dry and her nose stopped dripping, Kay looked up. Kina brought her hands up and then dropped them.

"I don't want to talk to you," Kay finally said, her voice cracked and dry from crying. "Just go away. Leave me be."

"You sure? What it-"

"Just leave!" Kay yelled. In an instant the forest around her vanished and then there was only a field of stars.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day two in school and things are not getting better.

No matter how she tried not to think about that night's dream, Kay just couldn't put it out of her mind. It made her grumpy and irritable to anyone that tried to talk to her. So, she sat by herself during breakfast, put up a barrier and ignored the world. Probably intending to talk to her about the combat, Julian started over and ran right into the barrier without seeing it.

Since she wasn't in the system yet, she shadowed Ruth during classes. She all but buried her head in her arms during the early morning biology class, finding the subject rather dull at first glance.

Her attitude didn't bother Ruth in the slightest, but when she thought about it, Ruth probably already knew what was on her mind and knew better than to pry. The girl was eerily comfortable with having Kay glowering at the floor behind her.

Mathematics was even worse than Biology for retaining her interest. Most of what they talked about was things she'd learned at twelve. Kay slumped over her desk and stared out the window.

"Kay?" The teacher called. Ms. Lee looked over the class to the back. "I know it's your first day, but if you could try to pay attention?"

"What's the point?"

"The point is to learn, Kay. If we do not try to expand on what we know, nothing will change."

"The only thing that causes change is violence."

Ms. Lee frowned. "If you think this class is of no use, perhaps you should be grouped at a lower level."

Kay looked to the front of the room. On the blackboard was an algebraic equation Kay could solve in her head. Ms. Lee was watching her with big brown eyes, waiting for some sort of answer.

The clock stopped. Everything slowed to the point of stillness. Kay picked up the small text she had been carrying around since waking up and walked to the front of the class, edging by the teacher. Picking up the chalk, she wrote in the answer to the equation and then scrawled the words 'Gotta do better' next to it. Then she walked out the door and down the hall.

Time restarted. She went outside for a bit, settling down in a corner to read her book on the development of South United States. The author had a habit of phrasing things badly, but it was an interesting read. Knowing about the people she had to kill was not exactly something that had been encouraged.

If she could have just stayed like that for the rest of the day, she would have. She finished the book shortly after the bell for the next hour rang. Kay looked up at the clear sky and just sat there for a few minutes, thinking about what she'd read.

In the end, Kay climbed to her feet and went looking for the library. She knew where it was, but remembering how that fit in with where she was made it different.

After nearly turning the wrong way in the hall, Kay made it to the library, only to run into Rahne. Both of them stopped short in the doorway. Rahne was holding a pair of light novels in one hand.

"Hello, Kay," she said, with small smile. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"And be stuck relearning stuff I already know by heart? Nope. Not doing that."

"Then perhaps a different class. What were you in?"

"Does it matter?"

Rahne's smile widened a little. "School can be fun, and exciting if you let it. So, what about Drama? Kurt is a good teacher and it's not at all like Math."

"Drama? Like, how to be a pain in the ass?"

"No, like theater and acting. Have you ever seen a movie?"

Kay shook her head.

"Then this should be completely new. C'mon, I'll show you where to go."

Rahne touched Kay's shoulder, intending to gently guide the girl, but instead Kay jumped away, alarmed. Rahne paused.

"Are you alright?"

Kay said, "Fine, just don't touch me."

"Sorry. It's this way on the right." This time Rahne waited for Kay to move before guiding her.

Stopping her at one of the doors, Rahne peeked in first. She heard Rahne speak to the teacher.

"Mr. Wagner, if it's not too much trouble, I have a new student for you," Rahne said.

The voice that answered spoke with a heavy german accent. In her head, Kay was picturing an old white man with a beard and thick glasses. Rahne smiled at Kay.

"Go on in," Rahne said, "And there's no need to be scared. He doesn't bite."

Now she thought this Kurt Wagner had a canine based mutation. Stepping into the room, what she saw was a three fingered, blue skinned, yellow eyed man with black hair crouched on his desk.

"Mein Gott!" He exclaimed, clearly coming close to jumping out of his skin. "Scott said you looked like her, but you're practically identical."

Kay blinked. "Sorry, what?"

"Everything alright?" Rahne queried.

"Ha-Yes, Rahne. It's all good. I was just taken aback is all."

The class giggled. Kurt simply smiled good-naturedly.

"Alrighty then." Rahne looked around, with a look of feeling slightly out of the loop. "Kay, try to enjoy yourself. I'm sure we'll get you a proper schedule soon enough." Then she was gone, off to wherever she was originally going. Kay scanned the room and saw everyone looking at her, including David from the day before. He didn't look scared witless, but his expression was fairly unreadable.

Kurt held out his hand. "My apologies. You look exactly like an old friend of mine when she was your age."

Kay shook his hand. "So, I've been told. Should I expect anyone else to react like you?"

"Like me, no. There are plenty here who knew Kina though. Logan especially. Those two were sparring partners. What was your name?"

"Uh... I go by Kay."

"Kay, it is lovely to meet you. Why don't you take a seat? There's an open desk next to Megan." He pointed to a girl with butterfly wings on her back and glittering eyeshadow.

A hand shot up as Kay sat down.

"Yes, Sophia?"

"Who is Kina? Is she an X-man like you and the other teachers?"

"Kina _was_ an X-man, but only for a couple years. Not everyone on the team was able to be comfortable with her powers, so she left. Now, we were discussing- Yes, David."

"If she was an X-man, why don't we know about her?" David sat up a bit straighter. "Everyone knows about the X-men from those days, but we've never heard of anyone named Kina."

Kurt eyed the class. "Is this something everyone wants to know about?"

Kay shrunk back in her seat as several people chorused in agreement. Even Megan scooted forward in her chair, eager to hear more.

Clearing his throat, Kurt explained, "Kina Cortland was younger than all of you when she came to the Mansion. We have come to call her ability, The Wisher, but at the time it was volatile and unpredictable because what she could do depended entirely on her emotions. When she joined us on the field, we gave her the Codename of Mimic due to her habit of copying the enemy. Have any of you heard of the attack that happened outside New York City Hall?

"No. There was supposed to be a press conference by the Mayor on the matter of Mutant safety and acceptance. Emma Frost, at the time, was working with the Government. Professor Xavier sent a small group because he was worried about anti-mutant groups showing up. We took Kina with us. As predicted, a private military group showed up, and they brought Sentinels with them."

David raised his hand again. "Why would they bring sentinels?"

"A very good question, David. However, I don't think anyone will know why they thought it necessary. See, those of us there were not exactly prepared to fight Sentinels. Fear has a pattern of bringing out the worst in people. For Kina, she manifested the ability to create small black holes. Unable to control it, she nearly killed herself and destroyed a fair amount of the surrounding buildings."

"Wait," A student blurted, "Wasn't there an incident where a mutant went nuts? They said it was a case of the mutant being mentally ill."

"One of the many stories people published. Of course, the government would never actually say what happened. That was a couple years after Kina first joined us."

Another student, a kid wearing a pair of thick headphones around his neck raised his hand. When Kurt called on him, DJ asked, "So, what exactly does a Wisher do? Is it just wishing for things to happen?"

"Close, but not quite. Kina would wish for something, for example, if she were being bullied in school, she might wish to be able to punish the bully. From there anything could happen. I believe the time she did do that, she pushed her tormentors so hard they went through two brick walls and ended up in the hospital due to how severe their injuries were. If she wishes to be somewhere else, she would then be able to teleport. Does that make sense?"

"So, she could never predict what power she would have?" DJ made a face of disgust. "That just sounds like a nightmare."

Kurt chuckled. "For all of us. But Kina worked very hard to keep accidents from happening. Yes, Megan?"

"What was it like to fight with her? Like, was she easy to work with, or did you have trouble working with her?"

"Depends on who you ask. The main reason Kina left is because she didn't feel welcome in the team, and I'm sorry to say I was slightly unnerved on occasion. She was a confident, stubborn, and egotistic person. It took her a long time to lose her sense of invincibilty."

"Did you guys ever fight against her then, after she left?"

"Once and only once."

"What happened?"

Kurt smiled, amused by all the curious stares. Kay however, was glowering at her desk. He sat down on his desk, crossing his legs.

"It was roughly sixteen years ago. Maybe a little more." Kay's head came up. Kurt continued.

"For the sake of context, I must mention, Kina had an older brother by the name of Nathan. He was a telepath and the two of them were very close as kids. He worked with Professor Xavier as a teacher here, but refused to fight. Now, sixteen years ago, we were dealing with a serial killer mutant called the Traveler. He had the ability to steal a person's mind, memories, and mutant power if they had one. No one knew what he looked like, but there was one person who had fought him in the past. Kina.

"This was over a decade since we were in contact with her. Not even Nathan knew where to find her, but he knew people to ask. It took him at least a month to find a lead. Unfortunately, The Traveler got to him. Nathan managed to telepathically send us Kina's new address, but that was the last we ever heard from him."

"Did Nathan die?" Sofia asked, cringing at whatever her imagination had cooked up.

"In a way. We had yet to really encounter his ability, so at first, there was the thought that if we took down The Traveler, Nathan's mind would come back to him. Kina relieved us of that idea later on. He spent six months in a coma before we pulled the plug."

Several faces drooped. Kurt raised his hands. "But, that's not the story I want to tell. Nathan gave us the information we needed, but now The Traveler had the same information. It was a race to get to Kina first.

"However, Kina was completely unaware of our problems. She had settled down with her husband in a quiet village way up in the mountains of Sweden. They had a two year old daughter and Kina earned money by hunting in the winter for the villagers. She had no clue about her brother, but she did have an annoyingly vague precognitive ability she used while asleep."

"Four of us went to the village: Cyclops, Storm, Shadowcat, and Beast. Since hindsight is twenty-twenty, I can say now, sending that particular group was a terrible mistake. Cyclops and Kina never got along due to clashing personalities. Storm always thought of her as a willful child. Shadowcat, while the same age, was a much more bubbly and social person and they had never been close. Beast and Kina had a working relationship, but he could hardly reason with the rage of a mother afraid for her children."

Kurt motioned dramatically. "It was a quaint little place, far enough from any cities to be rural, but modern enough for the times. Plenty of sheep and farms mixed in with the pine trees. A mountain stream running through the middle of the town. Cyclops flew the jet in nearby, setting down in an empty field just below the village. Together they walked up the road and strolled right into town. They got some odd looks and a few rushed steps.

"Cyclops decides they should split up to search the town. He and Storm go to see if the town has a bar, and it does. Shadowcat and Beast head further up the mountain, asking the people that don't hurry away at the sight of them. Unfortunately, it doesn't get them a lot. Beast is hardly subtle and unless you're used to having a large blue fuzzy humanoid walking up to, it can be rather unsettling at first."

That got some laughs from the students. They were relaxing, setting in for a good story.

"In the bar, Storm chatted up the barkeeper while Cyclops eyed a couple of grizzly looking day drinkers. Hunter types from the look of their clothes. Storm learns that there is a young mother that moved there a couple years past. Not that the barkeep knows her name because she only comes in with meat during the winter and gets paid in cash. But the description is spot on, so Cyclops calls Beast of the coms and that's the direction they go.

"Going deeper into the forest, there's a simple forest trail. The trees are quiet. Not a bird in sight and we all know what that means. Beast tenses, ready for anything. Cyclops puts a hand to his visor, just in case.

"Then she steps out. She's behind them on the trail and glowering up at them. Kina Cortland, or as she goes after marriage, Kina Isshin, is not one you want glowering at you on any given day. She's anything but breakable, wearing a white T-shirt under a forest green, short-sleeved, button-up shirt that showed well-toned muscle from her time as a private military commando. Cyclops immediately drops his guard and approaches, barely getting out the words 'we're here for your help' before she cuts him off.

" 'Get Lost,' is all she says, but there's a savage undertone that says she means business. Not that Storm pays any attention. She tries to talk Kina down, asking her to calm down and listen. Kina tells her to shut up. She's not even trying to hide her fangs. Storm however is not having any of it and starts telling Kina what for.

"The air grows hot. One of the pine trees explodes right next to the mountain trail. The group is showered with needles and wood shrapnel. Shadowcat is unharmed, having gone intangible the instant the tree exploded. Kina says if they won't leave, she'll make them regret it.

"Cyclops tells Kina to stand down. They don't want a fight. But he doesn't know what's going through Kina's head. He doesn't know the future she's seen. And he's forgotten that Kina doesn't take orders from stuck up alpha males."

Kurt paused as a few snickers were heard in the classroom. Kay tried not to look too interested. She was imagining the dreamworld Kina currently lived in and what Kina had said about it being her last happy day.

Continuing, Kurt dove into a battle. "The first to move was Beast. He charged Kina, hoping to end things quickly. She was too quick though, for the moment he closed in, he was thrown by a telekinetic force into the trees. Next Kina turned her gaze on Storm. Storm's eyes went white as the wind began to howl. The trees shook and grew, weaving their branches into a wall that stretched upward, cutting off the gale Storm was cooking up. Cyclops hit her with one of his optic blasts. Kina took a step back, barely fazed and unharmed.

"Going mostly unnoticed, Shadowcat phased through the trees, taking a route around the fighting to get at Kina's back. In the meantime, Kina attacked Cyclops with the trees. Pine needles became lethal darts, peppering the ground each time Cyclops dodged. Lightning struck the ground a meter from Kina. The lightning was followed by a torrent of rain and another bolt on Kina's left. Kina's skin turns to wood as a third bolt strikes her directly. Part of her face is blown off, but it regenerates right back.

"Right then, Shadowcat lunges out of the tree wall at Kina's back, plunging her hand into Kina's back. 'Stop or I'll crush your heart,' She screams over the noise of the rain. Kina turns to see Shadowcat over her shoulder. 'Two can play at that game, Kit Kat,' Kina mused. Roots twined through the air, moving through Shadowcat's intangible body and looping over Kina's shoulder. Shadowcat lunged to the side. Kina turned, bringing up her fist right into Shadowcat. She knocked her out with one blow. Shadowcat dropped.

"Storm hit Kina with an even bigger bolt of lightning, maintaining this one so that it lasted several seconds. Cyclops joined in, trying to overwhelm Kina's regenerative power with an optic blast strong enough to break steel. Kina raised her arms, her wooden form breaking at the same rate it was healing. So, she changed, Wood turning to diamond."

"Oooo, like Ms. Frost?"

"Exactly like Ms. Frost," Kurt confirmed. "As the hardest mineral on earth, Diamond is capable of withstanding lightning and Cyclops' optic blasts. Which is why Kina chose that form to continue the fight. From there she could switch back to an offensive."

The bell rang, and the room was filled with groans. Kurt smiled.

"Not like the rest will be much of a surprise. We got our asses handed to. Kina beat down Cyclops and then Storm and then teleported the four back into the jet. We shall continue our normal classes next time. Homework is to make a list of what you think makes a good story."

Not everyone moved the instant he stopped talking. Megan jumped out of her seat, bubbling with excitement to her friend two rows over. Kay drew up one of her legs, absorbed in her own memories and questions.

Her initial repulsion at having anything to do with Kina was wavering. Though the story had told of Kina as an enemy, Kurt had said it so that she wasn't a villian. Kay wondered what she had really been like.

"Hi." Kay looked up at the skinny brown haired girl standing next to her. "I'm Sofia."

"Hi?"

"Noriko is one of my friends and I was wondering if it was true that you can move faster than her."

Kay shook her head. "I don't run fast, I just slow time for a little bit."

"But that's cool, slowing time." Sofia took the seat in front of her as the occupant left. "I manipulate wind, and can use it to fly."

"How can you fly using the wind?"

Sofia shrugged. "I just do. How can you slow time? You just do."

"Technically, I slow down by thinking really hard that I want more time to do something," Kay blurted and then turned red, looking away.

"You put a lot of thought into then. More than me anyway."

"Just the way my power is. I think about what I want and the more detailed I get, the more accurate it is."

Sofia opened and closed her mouth a couple times. "Wait, so, your power isn't just slowing time? Noriko just talked about how you could practically teleport."

The shadows shifted as David joined them, his school bag over his shoulder. "Given her extreme resemblance to this Kina Cortland, I think it's safe to assume she is also a Wisher, correct?"

Kay scowled at David. "What of it? You going to say I should scram again?"

David winced. "Actually, I wanted to apologize. I was.... surprised and said some things I shouldn't have. You're not just a killing machine. You're a person just like the rest of us. So, sorry?"

"You're forgiven," Kay answered, though gloomily. "Not like you're the first person to treat me like I might set them on fire for no god damn reason."

"Does that mean you can do anything?"

Kay rolled her eyes at Sofia and then focusing on the desk between them. In her mind she pictured a single rose, slowly blooming. After a tense couple of seconds, the desk surface turned bright green and sprouted several short stemmed, pink roses. Sofia grinned, gently touching one of them.

"Anything I can imagine, which is why," Kay shifted her gaze to David, "I was taught the way I was. The more I know, the more I can do. They just didn't teach me things that didn't have to do with my job."

"Your job?"

"I-"

"Cool! Is that your ability?" It was DJ and an Asian girl next to him.

"She's a Wisher like Kina," Sofia explained without hesitation.

"That's awesome. Maybe you'll get to be an X-man in the future. The stronger you are, the better your chances are anyway."

"I'm not going to fight anyone," Kay insisted, "I haven't even decided if I want to stay in a place like this."

"Why not?" The Asian girl asked. "We're safe here, for the most part. We just have to worry about each other more than anyone else and we don't have to deal with regular people wanting us dead to our face."

"Because I hate fighting for other people and so far it seems that's pretty normal here. You don't even think that maybe the X-Men aren't the good guys they want to be."

"Of course they're the good guys," DJ argued. "Haven't you heard like, every story about them. They fight evil for a living. How could they not be good."

"Because apparently they also think violence and intimidation is the first answer to a problem. Weren't you listening to the story?"

"Kina overreacted and started that fight. Just because you get a bad premonition doesn't mean you should just attack your friends."

"Oh, and that's so simple to write off is it? Shouldn't you go find Kina and ask her side of the story? Oh, except you can't, because she's who knows where."

"What do you care about some dead beat mutant? It's not like you are her. Or, is it that she's your mother?"

"She's not my mother," Kay growled under her breath.

"You do look like her according to Mr. Wagner," The Asian girl mentioned. "And you have the same power. It's only safe to assume-"

"What's there to assume? Does my word not mean anything?" Kay shoved to her feet. "Go pester someone else if you're so interested." She shouldered past a startled David and ran out of the room. She heard someone yelp as she barged past, but didn't look to see who it was. She just kept walking. No one looked at her when she passed up the cafeteria; it was lunchtime. No one, Noriko for example, called her over.

Kay started to wonder what was wrong when she reached the stairs. One of her headaches was building. Normally, they only happened after she used her ability for too long all at once. She paused at the base of the stairs, putting a hand to her head. Except she couldn't see her hand, or any other part of her body. She dropped her book and it became visible, landing with a thud on the floor. The two students standing at the top of the stairwell turned to see what the noise had been.

They started visibly when she suddenly appeared, dropping to her knees as her stomach rebelled. Not much came up beside bile and some bits of oatmeal.

"Hey, are you alright?" The one kid asked. Next to him, someone Kay vaguely recognized from the Biology class elbowed him.

"Course not. She's throwing up. Got get Josh." He climbed down while the other ran up. He offered Kay a hand as she looked up at him. "I'm Erik by the way."

Kay shoved away his hand. "I can take care of myself."

"Never said you couldn't. Was it the chicken? I always thought it looked a little fishy myself."

"What- what are you babbling about?" Kay groaned as her stomach threatened to heave again. She put a hand over her mouth.

"The food of course. Haven't you heard of food poisoning?"

"Not exactly a reliable form of assassination, and no, I haven't eaten anything posioned."

Erik's eyebrows came together, but he didn't bother inquiring further. The sound of feet rushing down the steps drew his attention. Josh rushed, hopping the balcony to get there faster. Kay made a disgruntled face.

"I don't need help," she insisted.

Josh looked at her, taking in her slight pale look, and shaking hands. She stuff her hands into her armpits, determined to not look pathetic.

"I'm a healer," he said. "At least let me take a look?"

She retracted. "I'm fine. Look, it happens, and it passes."

"Is it a disorder? I can help. Please," Josh sighed, "if you don't let me heal you, I'll go tell Hank and he'll make you get looked at."

"Who's Hank?"

"The doctor here. He's big and blue and fuzzy and very scary when he wants to be. Just let me help. It'll only take a second."

"Are you threatening me?"

Josh sighed louder. "How is me offering to help you a threat?"

"Because I don't need your help." Kay moved around Erik and Josh, taking two steps up the stairs and then tripped. Josh lunged, grabbing her arm. She reeled, fingers brushing the tiles.

"Seriously." His hand was cool to the touch where he touched her head. "You are the worst patient in this school."

For a moment, Kay felt light-headed, and then her vision cleared. The nausea vanished with her pounding headache and she pushed away.

"Thanks, but I'm good."

Josh watched her leave with a knot in his stomach. What he had felt when healing had not been like anything he'd felt before.

"You think she might be a little, uh, you know, cuckoo?" Erik said out loud.

"She's different, not loony," Josh rounded on the older boy. "And she's nice enough. There's no need to be mean."

"Woah, I was just saying. She thought I was talking about killing people when I brought up food poisoning."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't thought out. Excuse me." Josh hurried away.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Now aware that something is wrong, Josh tries to get involved.

When Josh came down the next morning for breakfast, he saw Kay sitting in the corner again. The air shimmered around her for a moment and then it was gone. He paused at the food line, the pit in his stomach back again.

"What's the hold up, Josh?" Noriko asked, in line behind him. She looked where he was looking and smirked. "Love struck already? That was quick."

Josh jerked. "It's not like that. I just-I'll be right back." He stepped out of line and walked over to the table Kay had taken for herself.

Having spent most of her afternoon the day before reading in her room, Kay wasn't feeling that great about being around others again, but Ruth had said things would get better, so here she was, getting ready to put up with more boring classes and annoying questions. She wasn't happy to see Josh walking towards her even though she already had a barrier up.

He stopped before he ran into the barrier, seeing a slight difference in the air, like looking through a glass window. Josh hesitated when she glared at him, but since he was already there.

"I just wanted to talk."

"What makes you think I want to?"

"I don't, but I was hoping you might explain yesterday."

"Go Away." Kay stabbed at her eggs.

"Fine, but even if that was normal to you, I could feel that it shouldn't be. I can feel when there's more wrong than I can see."

"It's not your problem."

"Yes it is. I know about it. I can't just ignore that you're dying."

"I'm not dying. Do I look like I'm dying?"

"Yes, you are. I think most of the time your power holds it at bay, but that doesn't get rid of it."

"I'm not dying!" Kay slammed her hand down, shaking the table. "If I had a terminal disease, they would have told me. I was their freaking pet project."

Josh lowered his voice. He wanted to sit down across from her, but the barrier kept him two meters away. "The people you're running away from? Not to be harsh, but I highly doubt they cared enough about you. If you don't believe me, just read my mind."

Kay stared at him, not really understanding why he cared. She closed her eyes and as if she'd flipped a switch, she could see his thoughts.

His mind was a whirl of emotion: concern, fear, desperation, anxiety. Above it all, so much stronger was his empathy, currently directed at her. His thoughts reflected what he said and so much more. It wasn't just that he could sense something wrong. His entire view of the world was like looking at a pool of paint. If her health was the color red, what he could feel was a delicate trail of dark green lacing the underside of that red, invisible from the surface, but visible once you dipped your fingers.

With a shudder, Kay looked away, turning off the telepathy. Josh stood there, a stubborn look fixed on her. She stabbed absent-mindedly at her food again.

"No matter what you sense, I don't need your help. I can heal myself."

"Is it the fact that you don't know me? Is this an issue of trust? Because its stupid. What would I gain from this?" When Kay refused to answer him, he threw up his hands, ground his teeth and stormed back to the food line where Noriko was waiting. She leaned forward and whispered.

"What was that about?"

Josh shook his head. "She was throwing up yesterday, that's all."

Noriko looked Kay's direction. "Let me guess, didn't want to be helped? Sorry, that's the vibe I got."

"You're not wrong. She insists she's fine. Anyways, did you finish your chemistry homework?"

"Yeah, had trouble with a couple questions, but I just guessed on those. What about you?"

They got their food and joined the rest of their friends. David and Sofia were talking about yesterday's Drama class and the story Mr. Wagner had told them. Josh thought it sounded fantastical, but he didn't say so. They were too engrossed in bouncing theories off each other.

After breakfast, Julian came over to flirt with Sofia and they walked off together. Josh looked over to Kay's corner and saw her sitting there, just staring out the window with a somber expression.

No one, including Ruth, wasn't surprised when Kay didn't show up in classes. To them it was just another day without any exciting interruptions. Training time in the afternoon went smoothly enough. Dani, the advisor of Josh's team, had them run through a standard rescue mission. They had to get all the civilians trapped in a warehouse fire to safety. Sofia took over atmosphere control to keep the fire from spreading while Noriko and Jay zipped in and out, bringing the people out to David and Josh to be treated. Laurie kept everyone calm as they were rushed out.

The only issue was Josh was still thinking about Kay. Even as he healed the fifth hologram person of smoke inhalation, he couldn't shake the bad feeling in his stomach and faltered for a moment.

Afterwards, he barely even paid attention to Dani giving them advice on how things could have gone better, not that she had a lot to say. He caught a word or two on doing more to damp down the flames, but all that just went in one ear and out the other. David put a hand on his shoulder as they headed out the door.

"Dude, you have been somewhere else since lunch. What's on your mind? David asked.

Josh shrugged, "It's going to sound silly."

"You got a crush on a cuckoo?"

"No, Hell No. It's Kay, no not like that. Don't smirk at me. I'm worried about her."

Overhearing them, Noriko skipped closer. "I thought you said it was nothing this morning."

"I did. But she didn't show up to lunch, so I asked Blindfold and she said something really cryptic to me. Like Kay was okay even if she was already dead."

David assured him, "Kay's probably holed up in her room. I'm sure blindfold wasn't being literal."

"But I think she was! Kay is- There's something wrong with her, like she's sick, seriously sick, but she wouldn't let me help."

"Josh," Noriko said, "Way to undersell. If it's that bad, why didn't you tell someone?"

"Because she didn't want me to, okay?"

David squeezed Josh's shoulder. "It's okay. How 'bout we go ask the cuckoos to find her? If Kay's in trouble, we'll help her. whether she likes it or not."

"I guess. I still don't want to be punched for helping her."

Noriko rolled her eyes. "That girl just needs to accept that she can't do everything herself. Let's go."

 

Finding the Stepford Cuckoos was easy enough. They shared a room on the third floor that was a little bigger than the others due to there being three of them. All three were identical with the same hazel eyes and blonde hair. Opening the door after the knock, Phoebe and Celeste both had a look in their eyes that seemed bored.

"What do you want, David?" They chorused, sounding eerily insync.

David answered, "We were wondering if you could find Kay, the-"

"-Yes, we know who she is," They said. "Her mind is quite unique."

"So," Josh asked, "Can you find her?"

"We could but." They looked at each other, also turning to look at their third still in the room and trailed off for a brief moment. "Are you sure you want to?"

"She might be in trouble. Yes I want to find her," Josh growled.

The three shrugged. Mindee stood from where she sat in a chair. As they came together, they held hands in a triangle and stared up at the ceiling.

"She's not on school grounds," They chorused after a quiet minute. "The one you call Kay has returned to New York."

"She left?"

Mindee frowned at Josh. "That is what we said."

Any hope of things being okay disintegrated. Josh put his hands on his head, berating himself for not being more insistent.

Noriko however simply shrugged. "Hey, she just went home. Sort of. She did say she was homeless, but it's not like she doesn't have friends there."

"And what if something happens?" Josh said, "Blindfold did not sound like Kay would be fine."

"You sound like she's going to trip and break her neck. We're talking about the same person right?"

David reasoned, "Noriko's got a point. She's a Wisher and Wishers are basically an Omega level mutation. Kinda hard to see her dying that easily."

"Just because you're alive doesn't make you okay!" Josh burst without thinking, "Just because you can pick up the skills of anyone around you doesn't make you a genius, David! That Kina chick you were talking about over breakfast? She's dead. Having an omega level mutation doesn't make you immortal!"

"You should stop trying," Phoebe suddenly said, now the only Cuckoo sister still listening. "Getting involved with a girl like that will just get you hurt. She's not who she says she is."

"Excuse me?"

"She's been lying to you all. Her name, Her background. Ms. Frost was right to not want her here."

David frowned. "You've been reading her mind then?"

"Of course. At least once we could break her mental walls. Look, I get you care, but it's better to just ignore people like her." With a nonchalant shrug, Phoebe closed the door. Josh glared at the wood panels.

"Well, I'm going to do something." He shot a glare at Noriko. "Even if everyone else doesn't think she's worth helping."

Noriko winced. "Well, If you're going to go after her, I'll go with you. It's not like you would even know where to look. David?"

He shook his head. "Call me if things get bad, but I have homework to finish tonight."


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kay returns to her old beat, except, everything is wrong. Signs of a fight, one friend in the hospital and four more are missing.

It took Kay an entire day to walk back to the city. By the time she was close enough to hop a bus, it was past midnight and the streets empty. She had no clue who's turf she was on, but right then it didn't matter; she was exhausted and ready to sleep. The first place she curled up to sleep, around the corner from a closed up bakery, only lasted until a passing late night dog-walker woke her up. The big dog barked at her until its owner pulled away, but by then all her nerves were haywire.

Kay shoved her hands into her jean's pockets and trudged on with her head down. There was too much to think about. It had been three days since her abduction. Arron would be long gone if he hadn't decided to stick around. Aoi would probably be convinced she'd dumped him and ran off with some other guy. He was funny like that; always thinking the most ridiculous things in his own paranoid way, but it was cute.

She walked for an hour, picturing how Aoi would wrap her up in a bear hug. Taxis and the occasional late night drivers would pass on the streets, but she was alone in the night.

Getting another couple hours of sleep on the side of a grungy parking lot behind a strip mall, Kay managed to hop the first bus of the morning heading towards Manhattan. All she had to do was touch the card reader to trick the driver into thinking she had paid.

It was in that manner she got back to her gang's area. One bus lead to a second and then she jogged the last couple of miles of side streets and back alleys to get to that small fenced in courtyard.

The place was quiet. All the cars were still in their parking spaces because of how early it was. The sun barely over the horizon. A window squeaked open overhead in one of the condos. Kay looked around, seeing some broken bricks and scorch marks on the pavement. A soda can rolled around between tires.

She reached for the door knob, but the metal was twisted and the mechanism broken. It came off in her hand.

Prying open the door, she stepped into the once cozy cellar. The shelves were broken, their contents dumped on the ground and stepped on. bullet holes peppered the concrete. The blankets and couch were in disarray.

Any thoughts of being warmly embraced and welcomed vanished like a fog. Kay bolted right back out of the door. She jumped, putting a foot shaped dent in the roof of a tan ford focus. Grabbing hold of the third story window ledge, she pulled herself up the next floor, all the way to the roof where she could get a better look around.

Though nothing looked out of place, she could see dirt and powder burns on the edge of the rooftop from where the shooters had set up. Kay knelt and touched the marks, wondering how long it had been. Guilt settled in as her thoughts went straight to the worst case scenario.

When she looked up from examining the roof, she caught a fragment of a coat sleeve quickly slipping out of sight just beyond the gray fence. Kay was instantly in motion, sprinting across the tar and gravel roof. She crossed the alley in one leap and looked over the edge.

There he was, wearing his classic Braves jacket. Jerry hated wearing it on runs because it stood out, but it seemed he was not out on business.

Kay jumped down, using the fire escape to slow her descent. Jerry's head jerked upward and then he flattened against the wall, eyes wide and startled.

"You're alright?" Kay asked, ambushing the younger boy by frisking him for injuries. "What happened? The hideout was all shot up and a total mess. Where is everyone? Why were you hiding? Was Arron here?"

"Woah, Kay, slow down." He pushed her hands away from his face. "I'm fine. I was with Yeller and Shriek when it happened."

"What happened?"

"SWAT or something similar. From what Yanar told us, they kicked in the door and just opened fire without hesitation. And there was this really hot chick in charge, dressed up all nice."

"Hot chick?"

He misunderstood her look for disgust. "I didn't actually see her and Yanar thinks any older woman is hot."

"That is- where's Yanar? Wait, what about Arron and Aoi and well, everyone?"

"No clue where Arron is. He vanished after you did. Freaked is what. Don't know about the others 'cause of how delirious Yanar was. He went to St. Mary's to get patched up for the bullets he took."

"The hospital?"

"Yeah, but Kay, where'd you go? Aoi was really worried. Especially when we heard Jason got the charges dropped."

"I'll tell you later, Jerry. Right now I need to talk to Yanar. See you at Yeller's?"

"Uh... yeah, or Rymo. They've been letting me crash with them." Jerry grabbed her sleeve before she could sprint off. "And be careful? Jason's out for blood."

"I'll keep an eye out. I'll see you later." With a nod, they parted ways. Kay ran out on the streets, hoping as hard as she could that everything was fine.

She stumbled.

White tiles were under her shoes instead of cement. Partially hidden by an opaque white curtain was a hospital bed. Kay blinked, surprised at the sudden change. She reached out to shift the curtain, but her fingers went right through the stiff cloth.

Moving around the bed instead, Kay saw Yanar lying in the bed, awake and flipping through television channels with bloodless pale to his skin. An IV hooked up to his arm hung on his left.

 Unsure if he could see her, Kay waved a hand in front of his face. He didn't even twitch.

At that moment, a nurse came into the room. The matronly woman frowned as if she had been up for two days straight and cleared her throat. Yanar yanked his eyes from the television.

It was then that Kay realized there was no sound. Not from the television, nor the cots rolling by in the hall. Even as she watched the nurse ask Yanar a question, she heard nothing. Yanar answered after a moment and then the nurse left. Kay wondered if she was seeing past, present, or future.

She left Yanar's room, her fingers passing through the wall instead of gripping the door frame to peer out. Another nurse strutted past, this one young and nervous looking, clutching a clipboard to her chest. Lights flashed down the hall as doors opened and closed one after another.

She found the nearest office and searched to find a calendar. The shelves of medical books were neatly organized, but the desk was haphazardly littered with papers, unopened envelopes and crumpled napkins. A half-eaten scone rested next to a cold cup of coffee.

Finding nothing on the desk of use, she turned to leave and then saw a small daily word calendar next to the door. She drooped a little, seeing that day's date there, but instead of dwelling on it, she simply returned to Yanar's room.

He'd gone back to flipping through stations with a vapid look. Kay didn't know a lot about him, but she did know he'd run away from a crappy home in Vermont a couple years prior. He talked about wanting to kill himself occasionally because he thought his power made people hate him.

His power wasn't even that shocking. All he had to do was touch something and he knew exactly what it was made of. He knew if the food was too far gone or full of nasty chemicals. He could tell you if you had a flu before the symptoms ever showed. Kay thought it was amazing.

On impulse, Kay tried to hold his hand. Though her hand only moved through his, he stopped and stared into empty space. Then he said something; something short and simple. Kay wondered if he'd actually noticed her.

Soft at first, a dull buzz filled her ears. She shook her head, trying to ignore it, but it only grew, gaining definition until she realized someone was saying her name.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Kay is doing her best to insist nothing is wrong, Josh and Noriko get to know her a little more, though it proves to be difficult.

Noriko and Josh left the school shortly before dawn. Dani agreed to give them a ride so long as they called once every hour to let her know they were okay. Josh dozed off in the car, having had trouble sleeping, but Noriko felt as energized as ever. She directed Dani to drop them off near the place they found Kay the first time and the two of them began asking around for clues.

It was shocking the difference three days made. Shop owners that had never seen Kay in their life when Noriko and Julian had asked around knew exactly who the local homeless kids were. While Josh pestered a watch maker for details, Noriko wondered if the change was their fault. They had been anything but low key fighting Kay in the street.

"What!" Josh suddenly burst. Noriko returned her attention to the conversation. "Was anyone hurt?"

The bearded man shrugged. "Can't say for sure. I think one of the kids went to the hospital, but it's more like that entire cluster just went off the radar. Can't blame them. Everyone around heard the gunfire."

Noriko inquired, "Gunfire?"

"Yup. Like I was telling the lad. Couple days ago, SWAT came down heavy on some teenage homeless kids who live in the area. Pests for the most parts, though I understand one of them regularly stole to get by. Anyway, there was explosions, yelling, gunshots. Real crazy for a good couple of minutes. Scared the wits out of me."

"Can you tell us where that was?"

He tilted his head. "Hm, go south on this street and then down 47th for five blocks. Should be around that-a-ways."

"Thanks," Josh said, leading the way. It was almost another search when they got five blocks down 47th without any signs of trouble. They asked one more person, an old man wearing an apron and sitting outside a deli to enjoy his smoke break. He was annoyed at them for bothering them, but had an answer quickly enough to send them on their way.

Noriko saw it first. Behind a pair of early morning shoppers with food bags, leaning over someone lying on the sidewalk, Noriko recognized the sturdy worn shoes Kay wore. With a yell, Noriko surged over, shoving aside the two women.

"Kay?" Noriko checked the girl's pulse. Kay's skin felt clammy and blood dripped steadily from her nose. She didn't respond to the sound of Noriko's voice. "Josh!"

Josh slid to Kay's side, his brow crinkled in worry. Cupping Kay's face with his hands, he began to heal her. The blood stopped, but she didn't wake up.

"C'mon, Kay. Wake up. Kay, please."

 

Kay jerked upon opening her eyes. Her head was spinning like a top and someone had their hands on her head. Trying to stand only made her want to throw up, but she hadn't eaten since the day before, so nothing came up.

As her vision cleared, she saw a golden face and bright blue hair. She tried once more to sit up, but her arms wouldn't support her.

"Will you listen to me now?" Josh said, tense. "You cannot just ignore this."

Kay didn't have the energy to swear at him no matter how much she wanted to. Instead she took a slow breath.

"Why are you even here? I didn't tell anyone I was leaving."

"I was worried about you, and right to be."

Feeling a little stronger, Kay shoved him off. "Great, you can leave now." She rolled onto her front and pushed up to her knees. It was slow, but the sickness and fatigue faded.

"Not happening. What if you collapse again?"

"I won't."

Josh's face would have been turning red if he didn't have gold skin from how angry he looked. "Did you plan on it? You mind letting me in on that little secret so I can actually help you?"

Kay wiped off her face. "You can't help. It's not a disease the way you think of it."

"Then what is it?"

"My power." She said it in such a way, she might have been talking about the weather. "I may be a Wisher, but using it for more than thirty seconds hurts me. First I get headaches, then nausea, the nosebleed, fever. The worst I've gotten is my eyes bleeding. That was from being active for five minutes. See, Josh, you can't help me."

"If your power kills you, why use it?"

Kay gave him the most confused look she'd ever shown. "Because it's the only way I can live."

"No, it's not." Josh cringed, remembering his own past. "If that's how it's been for you, you can change it."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I need to go talk to Yanar."

Both Josh and Noriko helped her to stand.

Noriko asked, "Where is he? We'll go with you."

"St. Mary's. It's a hospital on 51st."

Kay protested momentarily when Noriko waved down a taxi, but only for a moment. She didn't press the issue when both Josh and Noriko insisted on not just walking. At least they stayed quiet for the ten minute ride.

Yanar was exactly as she had seen in her vision: worse for wear and hooked up to a drip. He grinned when Kay walked in, but the grin slipped upon seeing her companions.

"Who are they?" He whispered.

"Friends, sorta," Kay answered. "They're safe."

"Good, because Everything's been shit."

"I ran into Jerry. He told me what he could. I'm sorry I wasn't there."

Yanar took her hand. "Don't do that. Not your fault."

"But I could have helped."

His grip tightened, holding her gaze. "Kay, you wouldn't have changed anything. Those guys were ready for mutants."

"Jerry said it was SWAT."

"That's what everyone thinks, so did I for a bit, but there was no police cars, no labels. I just can't think of any other group that would have such tactics."

Kay cringed inside. She knew and she hated knowing. "I'm sorry."

"Stop that. You gotta take care of yourself."

"I always do."

"Then wherever you've been, go back. There's nothing left for you here. Arron left town I think. He freaked out and stole a car the moment he knew you were gone." Yanar winced, touching his side. "Harley and Claire, I saw them being bundled into a van. And Aoi."

He trailed off, not wanting to meet Kay's eyes.

"What about Aoi?"

"Pretty sure he's, um, dead. or gone. He got shot in the back and I didn't dare stop to check on him. I got shot three times too, so I doubt he's any better than me."

"No, he can't be."

"Kay..."

"He can't be dead." Kay pulled her hands in, dropping her head. "They'd have taken him alive if they could. He can't be dead."

"They'd take him alive? What do you mean?" Yanar tried to lean forward but the pain from his wounds stopped him. "Kay, what are you talking about?"

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't gone out late. None of this would have happened. I'm sorry Yanar."

"Hey," He pulled on her hands. "Did something happen? Do you know something?"

She couldn't meet his eyes. Pulling away again, she scrambled for the door. Josh quickly moved aside before she bulldozed through him.

"You think she'll run off on us?" Noriko wondered aloud.

"She better not. I don't want to find out she collapsed again."

"You guys her new friends," Yanar called. Josh motioned for Noriko to go.

"Not quite," Josh answered, taking the open chair. "She doesn't really trust us yet."

"She did say you guys were safe." Yanar lifted a hand tentatively. "May I?"

Josh nodded, letting him touch his skin.

"Sorry, it's just Claire has scales instead of skin, so I was curious. You, you're different. It's not gold, but something that looks gold. Have you ever changed color?"

"No, is it supposed to?"

"Not sure. It's a feeling I got. I'm Yanar by the way. I can feel chemical and atomic make up by touching something. Like I know my sheets are polyester and washed in really cheap detergent. Heh, can get annoying sometimes, but when you got nothing else."

Josh grinned at the light joke. "I'm Josh and I'm a healer."

"So, you're here to keep Kay alive? I'm surprised she agreed to it."

"She didn't. I just refuse to leave her alone. Has she collapsed before?"

Yanar shook his head. "She gets headaches mostly. But, my power, I can feel the wrong inside her. I don't know what to call it though. Like her body is full of polluted water. Does that make sense?"

"Who knows. I've only healed her a couple times and I'm not even sure I'm making a difference."

"You are. I can tell. Anyway, she'll trust you eventually. She was all business when she and Arron strolled in last year."

"She came here with Arron?"

"Yeah," Yanar nodded. "Those two are as close as siblings and so secretive. They claimed to have run away from some place in Brooklyn, but we all knew the story was complete BS. Didn't matter. Everyone's got a story and in the end all that matters is the present."

"Did they ever talk about this place in Brooklyn?" Josh crossed his arms. He couldn't help but think about what Phoebe had said about Kay being a liar.

"Once or twice," Yanar said with a shrug and a wince. "They were really vague, but mostly it came down to being a bad place that they swore never to go back to."

Coming back in a flash of light, Noriko leaned into the room. "Uh... sorry to interrupt, but Kay is acting really edgy and there's some sketchy folks in military gear."

"What kind of military gear?" Yanar asked.

Noriko thought for a moment. "Black? Like camo but blacks and grays and no weapons."

Yanar shook his head. "Not the same ones. Don't know who they are, but the ones that attacked us wore dark blue and black with bulletproof vests."

"That's good, but I'm worried Kay's about to bolt. Finish your chat and meet us in the lobby?" With that Noriko was gone, leaving spots in Josh's vision.

"Wish we had a speedster like her in the gang," Yanar said quietly. "Kay was the fastest we had and she's not really a speedster."

Josh stood up and straightened his shirt. "You all mutants in your gang?"

"Most of us. Yeller, our leader, is an ordinary bloke, but a cool dude. He just kinda adopts us. Anyways, it was nice to meet you."

"You too. Ah, want me to heal you while I'm here?"

"Nah, they just want me to stay for observation. I'll be out of here in a couple of days. Go on. Keep Kay from dying for me, will ya?"

"Plan on it. See ya round maybe."


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kay pushes her new friends away (Again!) and runs away. Meanwhile, Noriko and Josh get to meet the local Mutant Special Defense Force members and learn a little more about what's going on.

Noriko and Kay were waiting in the lobby, though it looked a lot like Noriko was keeping Kay from running off. Kay kept pacing in the same two foot area, her hands tucked under her arms. Josh saw the two in military garb standing by the reception desk and wondered if they were just wearing costumes for a prank. They looked just like any twenty-something college kids: one with long black hair in a braid and the other with blonde hair an inch longer than he'd expect from military standards.

He said to Noriko, "I don't think those guys are enlisted. Hair is too long."

"That's what I thought, but, Kay wouldn't listen."

"Good you're here," Kay cut in. "Can we leave now?"

"Yeah, we can leave." The words barely had time to form before Kay made a beeline for the hospital doors. Noriko rushed after her, glancing at the two at the reception desk on the way. They had not even looked over, too busy chatting as they waiting on the nurse to come back.

Outside, Kay kept on walking, eyes on the ground as she ran through ideas. She knew where to go, but getting there on her own would take forever. They would have beefed up security since the break out. Plus, she didn't know for sure if she could protect three people. Fighting three would have been easier. Fighting _an army_ would have been easier.

Josh's phone buzzed, letting them know it had been an hour. He dropped back a few feet to call Dani and fill her in. Noriko jammed her hands into her pockets.

"Hey," she said softly, "are you alright?"

Kay nodded. "I'm fine."

"Worried about Aoi?"

"Not really." Kay couldn't help but grin as she thought of how he would react to being imprisoned. "Aoi's tough. A sweet heart, but tough and handy in a pinch. I'm worried about Claire. She's only ten."

"You want to talk about it? maybe we can help."

"Talk about what?" Kay rubbed her temples. "Talk about things that don't involve you? I didn't ask for you two to come looking for me. Go back to your posh school already."

Noriko looked back at Josh. He was cringing, probably being scolded for not calling sooner. She smiled. "Josh wants you to live, Kay. So, we're going to help you. You know who took your friends?"

Kay stopped walking a kicked at a bottle on the sidewalk. She watched it bounce and roll into the gutter.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll think of something."

Josh hung up his phone and rejoined them. "Dani says we should be careful. There's a couple groups that might have done this and they're all not to be messed with."

"Like I told Noriko," Kay said, scowling at a guy grinning at her, "You can go back to the damn school already."

Josh wanted to scream. "Kay, I said it before. I'll say it again. I am not leaving you on your own to accidentally kill yourself. Okay? So, you might as well talk to us."

"Do you ever take a hint? Get lost. This is my problem, not yours."

"Then I'll make it my problem. You're not the only one with a bad past."

"I said. Get Lost!"

A psychic blast shook the street. Window glass shattered on the apartments above them and the cars parked there. Josh and Noriko flinched, shielding themselves under their arms. Kay clenched her fists at her side.

"Next time I see you," Kay threatened, "I'll do more than yell."

They blinked and Kay was gone. Josh threw up his hands with a yell of frustration.

"Does she think breaking the glass is going to scare us off?" He grumbled to Noriko.

"Probably." She shook out her hair, wary that glass was stuck in her bright blue lockes. "You want me to run around till I find her?"

"You think she's close enough?"

"Won't know until- oh uh oh." Her face fell as she saw the two in black camouflage came running down the sidewalk. The first pointed up, indicating the broken windows to the other. The second vaulted over one of the cars, hand to his ear as if talking on a bluetooth.

"Is everyone alright?" The first called, gently touching Josh's arm as he came up to them. "What happened?"

"Nothing. Who the hell are you guys?" Josh took a step back.

The guy looked a little put out. "MSDF. And nothing, my French butt. That was a decisive psychic blast."

Noriko queried, "Aren't the MSDF a private military force? What do you know about psychic stuff?"

"It's a _mutant_ private military. Was it one of you two or did you see the psychic? Police have a habit of locking mutants up without thought, so I'd like to avoid that."

"It was just our friend. She got upset and yelled at us. No big."

He waved his friend over. "Your friend, is she a new mutant? We know of a good institute that can provide training to avoid destruction like this."

Josh couldn't help but snigger.

"What's so funny about that, golden boy," The second said.

"What's funny?" Josh chortled. "We go to Xavier's Academy. You missed the bus on that one."

The two traded looks. "You guys go to Xavier's?" The first said, "Don't you guys get any training on limiting your impact?"

"Sure, some, but our friend was only there for a couple of days." Noriko elbowed Josh. "This guy was worried about her when she skipped out."

Josh glared at her. "You'd be worried too if you were me. Kay is an idiot for not wanting our help."

"Help with what?" The second asked, leaning forward. "Does it have anything to do with the shootout on a mutant gang a few days ago?"

"You know about that?"

He nodded to Josh. "It's why we're here. The group that did it, Weapon X, is known for inhumane experiments and using mutants as weapons."

"If they're so well known for it, why don't they get shut down?" Noriko shrugged when Josh shot her a look. "Hey, I'm just saying. Dani told us to be careful and they're saying it was a notorious group."

The first smirked. "Better if our commander explained it than us. Best explanation I can give is they have resources and a long history. The MSDF has been trying to shut down their operations for a decade according to The Commander. Do you two know anything about what happened?"

"Well," Noriko hesitated. "We don't know much. It's our friend who knows everything and doesn't want help."

Josh said, "From the sound of things, this group is after her. Maybe she used to be a part of Weapon X or something, but she was saying it was her fault or whatever, and they took some of her friends off the street."

"What does she look like?" The first looked to the second, silently signalling them somehow though it was just a look. He stepped back, hand to his ear again and talking softly.

"You're not going to lock her up or anything?"

The first half laughed, ducking his head for a moment. "No. It's a thing we do. Take in mutants on the run and protect them until the danger is gone. But only if that's what they want. What we will do is keep her alive and out of their control."

"Her name is Kay. She's got black hair. She's white, of average height. A street kid with worn out shoes and a leather jacket."

"Is she a telekinetic?"

"No, she's uh, she called it a Wisher."

That made him blink. "That's like a rare ability."

"So, you know it?"

"I've heard of it. Packs a punch. Don't worry, we've handled the sort before. Brian, you got word?"

"Kita's going to send in a report," the other answered. Brian, the guy with long hair paused to listen and then continued. "We got clearance to make this official though, not just asking questions, so the rest of the squad's coming down to join us."

"Let her know the rogue mutant is a Wisher."

Brian relayed the information and then winced. "Ouch, no need to yell at me, Kita."

"What'd she yell at you for?"

"Lying. Only time she's accused me of that. You guys are sure of what her power is."

"Duh." Noriko rolled her eyes. "No way we'd mess that up. Kita doesn't know what she's talking about."

Brian smirked. "Don't let her hear you say that. No matter how stuck up she is. Anyway, we got an hour. Where'd that friend of yours head off to?"

Noriko shrugged. "Don't know. I was about to go take a quick look around when you two showed up."

"We'll take care of it then." Brian started away, but Noriko surged around them in a blue streak.

"Take care of it? In how long?"

"Woah! Was that lightning?"

Noriko poked him in the chest, hard. "She's our friend. You can sit tight, and I will track her down."

"Cool. Is this a be right back kind of deal?"

She made an exasperated face and surged off. Josh folded his arms and made himself busy eyeing his shoes. The two private military blokes had a short argument over letting Noriko take over the search.

Noriko came back and shook out her hair. "Spotted Kay getting on a bus. Tried to talk to her, but she blasted me back about fifteen feet."

Brian's buddy slapped him with the back of his hand. "Told you. Civilians don't get the job done."

"I found her, mister. I also don't think she trusts you two. You wouldn't have done any better. In fact, you wouldn't be fast enough to get this off her." Noriko held up a bus pamphlet.

He took it out of her hand. "This bus route goes all the way to Maine. You think this helps, Girl?"

"It's more than you had before. Oh, and the name's Noriko. Don't ever call me Girl again."

"Big deal, Noriko. You got us a piece of paper."

"Bran- Brandon, calm down. Let's just go get some donuts or something and wait for Kita."

Brandon jabbed a finger in Brian's face. "Next time, don't back down just because she can run faster than you." Brian jerked back, not pushing the matter, so Brandon pushed past.

"Don't worry about him," Brian assured once Brandon was out of ear shot. "He just wants to have something good to report. I'm Brian Young, by the way. I deal with non-mutant combatants and anything technical."

"Well, I'm Noriko and this is Josh." With a lighter mood, they shook hands. "I run on electricity and Josh heals."

"That'll come in handy. It's your friend. You are free to join us, just know operations have a habit of getting messy."

"Thanks. So, Donuts?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josh and Noriko team up with the MSDF and their local leader, Kita Isshin.

An hour later, Brian and Brandon guided Josh and Noriko to a mostly empty parking lot. There were a couple of cars on the side and in the middle was a badly parked pair of black vans painted with MSDF and a logo. When they entered the lot, both vans opened up, side doors rolling open. Five more in the same black camo uniforms stepped out, forming up an arc with the vans behind them. Brandon instantly went up to the guy who looked like he could bench press the van and clasped arms.

"Hey, Glad to see you still have all your limbs."

Brandon tapped the guy's shoulder with a fist. "That would never happen and you know it. How was the drive?"

Brian snapped off a lazy salute to the one member with two star patches on her arm. Red hair dangled in a partial braid behind her left ear.

"What's with the civilians?" She asked in a tone that was used to getting answers.

"Our Sources, Kita. Josh and Noriko are students at Xavier's and wanted to help."

Kita looked them up and down. Noriko did a double take when Kita's eyes changed from silver to purple.

"You two attend Ms. Frost's school?" Kita asked.

"We do. We're far more-"

"I don't need to hear it," Kita cut Noriko off. "I am already familiar with the kind of school she and Summers run."

"You are?"

"I'm a second gen mutant. This stuff is pretty normal for me. Now, Brian told me Weapon X is chasing down a rogue mutant. Someone you know?"

"Sort of," Josh allowed. "Kay was brought to the school a few days ago by Miss Frost. We know she's on the run, her friends were kidnapped, she doesn't want help and she's a Wisher."

Purple turned light red. Kita pursed her lips. "We'll see about that. Brandon!"

"Ma'm."

"What did you learn?"

He stood at attention. It was then Josh noticed that they were all fairly young, Kita included. Older than him, but only by a few years at best guess.

Brandon was talking. "Most everyone thinks SWAT was involved, which is a pretty standard coverup. They took three, maybe four young mutants. We can't be sure if the rogue is going into hiding or to help her friends. Most we know on that is she's catching a bus north." He handed over the pamphlet. Kita flipped it open and glanced it over. Then she thrust it at his bulky best friend.

"Dan, you and Brian work on tracking her down. We can worry about her goals after we know where she is. Karin, I want you talk to Erik again. See if he's got any more information on Weapon X bases. The rest of you are on guard. I have to make a call. You two, with me." She pointed at Josh and Noriko.

"Us?" Josh shot Noriko a confused look.

"Yes, you, Golden Boy. I'm going to talk to your headmaster. So, get moving."

She climbed into one of the vans. They stepped in, finding seats alongside a high tech computer system with four monitors. Kita hit a button and the van door slid closed. She didn't say anything, only typed in some numbers on a pad and hit a couple more buttons.

Josh leaned in, getting a better look at the closer of the screens, which showed what looked like satelitte feed. As he watched, the image cycled out, shifting focus and showing a different place.

"Is this live?" He asked.

"Yup."

"Do you have your own satelittes?"

There was a buzz tone from the monitor in front of her and then a picture flickered on.

"Hello?" a familiar voice said. The kids leaned over to see a big blue face on the screen. "Oh hello, Isshin."

"Beast, I need to talk to Summers. It's about Weapon X."

Hank nodded. "I'll go get him, but it'll take me a minute."

"I'll be waiting." She hit mute and turned to them. "MSDF may be private military, but it was started by SHIELD in an attempt to create a mutant division. When it split, we kept contact with various government and private agencies. We work _with_ the police and regular military at times. Mutant criminals, Spies, Anti-mutant movements. And not just on American Soil. We have training centers in Britain, Egypt, and Germany. So, yes, Golden Boy, we have access to live satelitte feed."

"You're not very nice," Noriko quipped. "He was just surprised."

"I can't afford to be nice. Nice is stupid. Nice gets you killed."

"Nice helps you make friends. Like Brian. He's nice."

"Brian isn't in charge. He also didn't grow up in the business. I was raised in the MSDF, he's a street kid."

At that moment, Scott came onto the screen. "Kita. What makes you call me of all people?"

Kita unmuted her mic. "I have two of your students here, a Josh and Noriko, who tell me you found another Wisher."

"That's right. I talked to your dad about it a few days ago. Why are you talking to Josh and Noriko about a Wisher?"

Kita rubbed her forehead. "Did you know Weapon X is after her?"

"It was a theory. When I talked to Kay, she mentioned being on the run from a group, but didn't name it. Do you have Kay with you as well?"

"No, You're sure about Kay being a Wisher?"

He slowly nodded, not one bit happy. "She looks exactly like Kina, Kita. She used telepathy, and a speed based ability. Kurt told me she made plants grow in his class and turned invisible. She's a Wisher, whether you like or not. What is going on?"

"Weapon X attacked a group of young mutants, abducted a few of them. Your kids were telling me they were after Kay. The girl herself is in the wind. We're tracking her down right now, but I wanted to be sure. Just like my mom, huh?"

"It was like being sucked back in time to when I first met her. Ego and all. Less chatty though. She's a punch first ask questions later type, unlike Kina. Be careful, okay?"

"Fuck off, Summers. I don't need you telling me that shit. I get enough of it from my dad. Ugh, okay, what about these two?" She moved the monitor to face Josh and Noriko. "Are they good for combat or should I send them home?"

Scott frowned. "They're good. They should watch out, but they're a couple of our better students. I'll let Dani know what you're up to."

"They're safe, Summers. Never in my career have I ever had anyone get seriously hurt."

"You're eighteen for crying out loud, Kita! I don't care if Yaun decided you could join up at fourteen. If your mother was still alive, you'd be living a normal life, not fighting to fix the world."

"Well, she's not, is she?" Kita slammed her fist into the controls and the video blinked out. She sat back in her seat, glaring with dark red eyes at the monitor. "Fucking Ass."

Noriko started to say something supportive, but hesitated. "Ummm, Kita, I-uh."

"What," Kita snapped.

"I just wanted to ask if you were okay."

"I'm fine, just pissed that he brought up my age." She took a deep breath and her eyes turned a blue-green like the ocean. "One of my pet peeves. Anyway, what can you two do?"

"I'm a healer," Josh said. "I just need to touch someone to heal them. Noriko's more combative."

Noriko held up her gauntlets. "Lightning and super speed. These help me control it."

"Good, those will be useful." Kita stopped as there was a knock on the closed door. She opened it and Karin leaned in.

"We got a location."

It was all Kita needed to hear. She moved out of the van and joined them at the other van.

Brian pointed to spots on the map. "There's a small, supposedly abandoned, building here off of the highway that generates enough energy to hold several high tech labs. The kind of stuff at our training grounds. It also happens to be a couple hours from one of the bus stops for the route the rogue took."

The other, Dan'el switched the screens. "Satelitte doesn't show much activity. A few people on the grounds, but that's it. I've got a drone headed there to get a better look, but it'll take a half hour for it to get on site."

"How far away is this?" Kita asked.

"A couple hours north."

"Then let's get rolling. You can keep an eye on it while we drive." She turned and snapped her fingers in the air. "Everyone buckle up. We got places to be."


	10. Miss Electric Blue

Kay dropped over the side of the stone wall, cat-like when her feet hit the ground and she rolled down to hands, crawling forward into the bushes. Beyond the foliage and prairie grass, Two guards with Semi Automatic rifles stood watch in front of a steel door. The building was sound though in need of a new paint job. The asphalt parking lot had only a beat up sedan and a shiny silver and blue pickup truck with some rust at the edges.

The only noise was the slight breeze winding through the grass. One of the guards sighed and shaded his eyes to look up at the sky.

"Man, this would be a lot better with a little shade."

"Focus. A few more hours and you can go on break."

Kay bolted from her cover. She grabbed the walkie from the first guard's shoulder and tore it from the cord. Before the second could raise his gun, she planted her foot in his face. The first reacted to her grab, clutching at air. She spun, slamming his head into the brick wall behind him. He slumped, only for an instant before she kneed him in the nose. Both men crumpled on the ground, unconscious with bloody faces.

From both guard's belts, she took their key cards and swiped them through the locks to open the door.

The only thing on the other side was an eight foot by eight foot elevator. Kay stepped in and pressed the only button on the panel inside.

When the doors opened again, she was in a state of the art looking facility, with glass walls and pristine white paint. A technician wearing a lab coat glanced at her while walking past, looked ahead, and then whipped back around to stare at her.

His mouth was partially open when Kay punched him in the jaw. There was a sharp crack as the bone broke and a thump when he fell on his back. With a stomp, His leg snapped in two. The scream of pain that came out of his mouth was garbled and wet.

"Shut up, Weakling," Kay muttered, stepping over the man. Footsteps echoed in the hall ahead of her. Another technician, followed by two guards, ran around the corner and came to a sudden halt.

"Sound the alarm!" The guard ordered, raising his gun. "X-25 is on site!"

The technician ducked as bullets sprayed. In the time it took the guards to blink, Kay was between them, breaking ribs. She whirled, knocking a gun down in the same space it took for her to break a neck. Kicking back the remaining guard, Kay grabbed the technician by the neck and shoved them through the reinforced wall.

The alarm was going off, red lights flashing at the corners. Kay lunged at the guard still standing. He blocked her punch, but there was too much force in her moves. His arm bent the wrong way, dislocating with a pop. She swung around his other side, and tossed him head first into the tiled floor.

Turning invisible, Kay ran the other direction, back past the elevator and down a different hall, flattening against a window as more guards ran to where she'd been.

She was careful this time, counting down in her head to thirty before becoming visible again. She ducked into an alcove as more employees moved past, unaware of her.

"Watch your backs. Kimura won't tolerate it if we lose to a rogue element."

Kay stepped back into the hall and snuck through a door labeled 'Processing'. On the other side was a long hall of glass windows into labs on one side and a steel wall on the other. Kay took off running as an alarm started going off in the hall.

"Found her!" A bullet flew past her head. Kay jumped as she ran, turning in the air to throw a bolt of blue lightning at the group of guards shooting at her. The floor exploded in a burst of light and sparks.

Time slowed. Kay ran on to the door at the other end of the hall. The door, though also made of steel and with no windows, opened easily. The square room on the other side filled Kay with terrible memories. Three stalls on each side were cells made from a mix of materials: plastic, glass and metal alloys. Each one had a single clear panel through which the inhabitants could be seen.

Hearing crying from one of the cells, Kay moved closer, putting her hand on the wall as she looked inside.

"Claire." The girl with silvery fish scales raised her head from her hands, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Kay!" Claire stumbled to her feet, white shirt and shorts looking strange compared to her usual ragged clothes. "Kay, you're alight!"

"We don't have a lot of time, Claire. Are the others here?"

Claire came up to the window. "What happened? You vanished and things got crazy. There was fighting. I think Yanar got away, but-"

"Claire, stop!" Kay hit her hand on the door, startling the girl. "Sorry, but we really don't have the time. Are the others here?"

"They took Harley out an hour ago. Something about testing what his powers were."

"Downstairs. What about Aoi and Arron?"

Claire shook her head. "Sorry, it was just me and my brother."

The door opened suddenly, banging against the empty wall with a metal thud. Five guards entered the room with guns raised.

"X-25 stand down or we will open fire!" the leader demanded.

Claire looked between Kay and the guards. "What's going on?"

Kay turned around and slowly raised her hands. All five were watching her, not even blinking.

"Lower Your Weapons," Kay intoned, impressing her will on them. Their eyes glazed over as they slowly relaxed, gun barrels dropping.

She lunged, decking the first one on the left. He reeled back on his heels. Kay elbowed the guy next to him in the ribs.

The middle brought his gun up, about to squeeze the trigger. Kay used the one next to her as a support, jump kicking the guy in the middle and then throwing her support into the remaining two.

She ducked a punch and blocked a kick. Spinning, she kicked the one guy in the head hard enough to knock him out, his mouth bleeding.

A gun went off, missing wildly as a few bullets ricocheted and glass shattered. Claire screamed. Kay jumped over the one in the middle, snapping her foot into the shooter's abdomen and then throwing his head into the tiles.

A hand grabbed her hair, yanking backward. She twisted without resisting, bringing her elbow up and back into the offender's ear. He released his grip and she snapped back up and swung around the other direction with a punch to his nose.

Not enough to knock him out, he stumbled, blood squirting from between his fingers as he clamped a hand to his broken nose. Kay dodged back as a knife stabbed from her right.

Feeling her time running out, Kay snarled under her breath, "Taking too long." She focused on herself, picturing lightning in her veins. With a sonic burst loud enough to make her ears ring, electricity connected her body to the walls and the guards. The smell of burnt flesh filled her nostrils. Kay coughed and turned off the lightning.

Black spots and lines marred the steel walls. The bodies on the floor sizzled and smoked, clothes burnt and melted to the skin. Kay covered her mouth as her stomach churned, but didn't throw up.

"Kay?"

Kay turned around to look at Claire. The girl stared wide-eyed in fear at her, hiding behind her arms at the very back of her cell.

"It's okay. They're dead." Kay took hold of the door handle and wrenched it off with a grunt of effort.

Claire hesitated, but ran to embrace Kay. "What is going on?"

Kay bundled Claire into her arms, silently hoping she could get to Harley without much more trouble. "I'm getting you out of here is what is going on. Let's go get your brother."

 

When they reached the lower levels, Noriko wasn't sure what to expect. Brandon and Dan'el so far had been unstoppable, turning the building into ribbons and twisting the guards' clothes against them. Kita's expression only changed when they passed people they hadn't taken out. Josh itched to check for survivors, but Kita kept them all moving at the same quick pace.

Though it was a second level, you wouldn't have known without the signs. The hall was broad and curved around as it sloped. They found more dead by lightning on the way. Gunfire could be heard from behind a pair of double doors with frosted windows.

Kita motioned with her hand. Brian and Raschel, a girl with dark brown hair and tanned skin, moved up to the doors first, easing them open so Brandon and Dan'el could rush in to do damage.

There was not much damage left to do. In the large room filled with testing equipment, over a dozen of unrecognizable corpses had been burned by a great swath of fire. Another five still stood; three of which were shooting at Kay and the other two recovering from being kicked simultaneously.

Kay realized more people had come into the room, but had no time to see who it was. If she slowed down, she'd get shot.

"Shall we?" Dan'el mused as he took in the scene.

Brandon grinned and raised his hand. The metal examination table grated across the floor, taking one of the guards with as it kept moving.

The other downed guard jolted around only to find his shoes melted to the floor and his uniform binding him up like a cocoon.

Noriko took the opportunity to surge in and disarm the remaining three. They had barely noticed the change before Noriko dropped the guns in the doorway.

Kay, still running fast, came around the room to the door and swung at Brian without thinking. He ducked back. She didn't lose momentum, rushing right into Kita full force. Kita grappled, managing to control her fall into a roll and put Kay's back to the ground. Kita brought her hand up, summoning a ball of fire into her palm.

"Stop!" Noriko grabbed Kita's arm. "Kay, we're here to help."

There was a pause. Kay's face was pale and blood was smeared over her mouth and chin. "Noriko?"

Kita lost the fire, but remained where she was with a firm hold on Kay's collar. "So, this is your friend?"

"Kay, this is Kita. Kita, meet Kay."

Kay scowled, but it looked odd as she was once more feeling her stomach churn. "Great. Get off me."

Kita refused. "How do I know you won't attack my subordinates?"

"No, get off because I'm going to throw up."

Kita stood just as Kay rolled over and retched. While Kita backed up, Josh came closer, gently kneeling and putting a hand on Kay's back.

"You going to be okay?" He asked her once it seemed she was done throwing up bile.

"What are you; a broken record?" She wiped off her mouth and lifted her head. "I'll be fine, Josh."

"Just checking."

"If you want to check someone, check Harley. He had some cuts."

Josh looked around the room, but saw only the soldiers. "Check who?"

"Harley, he-" Kay started to point and then groaned. "Harley, you can come out now!"

From what had been an empty space on the wall the silver haired teen and his sister appeared. There were some startled reactions, but everyone relaxed quickly enough with a few chuckles. Josh rose and walked over to them, speaking softly.

"Impressive work," Kita said, folding her arms. "You were trained well."

Kay glared at her. "I was trained to kill. What do you want?"

"What makes you think I want anything?"

"You're MSDF. Kita Isshin, daughter of Yaun and expected successor of the division. No way you don't want anything."

Noriko stared.

Kita said, "I came here to take out a branch of Weapon X and find information on three possibly abducted young mutants. I see two. Where is the third?"

"Not here," Kay muttered, pinching her nose. Color was slowly returning to her skin. "Probably dead."

"Very well. Brian, find a computer and hack it. Karin, check for survivors. Dan, you're with her. Brandon, I want you and Raschel to take care of the two rescues. The usual deal; make sure they're okay and find out where they want to go. The rest of you are on cleanup detail."

Anthony groaned, "Just me? Again?"

"I'm sure Noriko would be willing to help." Kita smiled at her. "A little speed would go a long way."

Noriko smirked. "I can do more than a little speed."

"Good." Kita locked her hands behind her back. "Kay, I can either debrief you now or later. Your choice."

"How about no." Kay stood and winced. She ran a finger over a gash on her abs. After a moment, the cut sealed up and left only the dried blood on her shirt. "I don't do debriefs anymore."

"You have information on Weapon X that could come in handy."

"Don't care." Kay ignored Kita, striding over to one of the testing machines that wasn't too badly damaged.

"You care about your friends, don't you?" Kita got in Kay's way. "Help us to help them."

"Move," Kay growled, hitting Kita with a psychic blast strong enough to knock her back and stepped up to the machine's monitor. She laid her palm on the screen and breathed in slowly. Kay's eyes turned black and the screen became a mess of static and program code.

In her mind, she was a part of the code, searching reports and medical test records for any sign of something better. Yanar's words echoed in her thoughts. Aoi could not be dead. She repeated the phrase to herself as if it would make things better, make it real.

There was nothing. No reference, no hint that he had ever been here. Kay sank to her knees, coming back to the real world with a pit in her stomach.

Kita scowled when she saw Kay's face twisted in pain and knew what was wrong. She folded her legs, sitting cross legged on the floor so that Kay could see her to the side.

"It gets better," Kita tried to say, feeling all too hollow while she said it. "The pain goes away eventually."

"What do you know?" Kay snarled. "You think you know what I'm feeling right now?"

"I think there was someone you cared about- a lot - and they aren't here. It's not the first time I've seen it."

"Well, it's the first time you've met me, so quit acting like you care."

"Fine, I'll stop being nice. Tell me how you know who I am."

"You were on the 'No Fighting' list."

"You had a No Fighting List?"

"People I was under no condition to confront. People like you and your father."

"Sounds fun. Did they give a list for people you should confront?"

"What do you think I did for them, throw parties? They gave me targets, I executed those targets."

"Makes sense. Execute anyone I'd know?"

"Yes."

Kita shot a sideways look at Kay, wondering at the matter-of-fact tone. "Seriously?"

"Don't ask the question if you don't want the answer. You done yet?"

"Hardly." Kita fiddled with her thumbs. "My mom died before I had a chance to meet her. I still remember her face and the way she would sing me to sleep, but she never took me to school or made me breakfast."

"Big deal. You've got parents."

"Yeah, a dead mom and a dad that I only get to see a couple times a year since I got my GED. Not much difference between us."

"Go to Hell." Kay pushed to her feet. "There is nothing the same about us."

"There is one thing. Your power. I don't know who you are, but that power you have belonged to my mom. So, I might not know you, but I care enough to find out."

"You're not going to start thinking I'm your sister are you?" Kay asked.

"Hardly. Dad would have said if I had one. More likely, you're a clone. Weapon X has a history of doing clone experimentation. Or you have the same power by complete chance. All I care about is finding out the reason. Is that cool with you?"

Kay hesitated to reject her. "I doubt anything I say will actually change what you do, will it?"

"Probably not. I get told I'm as stubborn as my mother that way."

"Then it doesn't matter. Do what you want. I'll do what I want."

"And what is it that you want?"

"To find Aoi."

Kita got up and tugged on her pants. "Then talk to us. The MSDF has way more resources than a single person."

"You won't get in my way?"

"Of course not. We don't do that kind of thing. I'd like to keep in contact, but I don't think you're someone who needs protecting. That's what we'll do for silver hair and silver skin. Protect them if they want it."

"Look, they've got places all over. I only know the location of three of the seven I've been in. The only one I know they would have taken Aoi to is this one."

"So tell me the other two and I'll get squads to check them out. Brian will get as much data from this one and on and on.”

Kay shifted her feet. Kita waited patiently, taking in every eyebrow twitch and finger spasm as Kay fidgeted. Finally Kay opened her mouth.

“There’s a training facility in Vermont. I was there for about five years while I got a handle on my powers. The other one is a holding facility in Boston. It’s nondescript; for when we would come and go on missions and conditioning.”

"That's better than nothing. You said you've been to seven?"

"The place I was raised in before battle training, A testing site, and two locations I was only in during transfers. Never saw the outsides of those because they blindfolded me first. Can't help you there. Are you done?"

"Where will you go now?"

"Albany."

"Albany?"

Kay glanced over at where Josh stood with Harley. They were laughing at something. "There's someone I need to find. I think he got out of town before they raided the hideout."

"What's his name?"

"We call him Arron." Kay folded her arms and directed her eyes downward. "He was in the program with me. We trained together. We escaped together. The plan was to go to Albany next."

"Why didn't you?"

"Because of Miss Electric Blue and her Headmistress." Kay raised her eyes, defiant. "They're only here because Golden Boy has a heart of gold. I don't trust them and I only trust you so long as you keep your word. Got that? Keep your distance and we're good."

"No problem. Do you have a phone?" Kita started to rummage in her pocket for paper.

"No, if I need you, I'll get in contact my own way." Kay broke off, striding for the door. She didn't look back until she felt a small hand tug on her sleeve.

Claire pleaded, "Don't leave."

"I have to find Arron, Claire." Kay put her hand on Claire's shoulder. "Arron needs to know we're all safe. You're safe."

"I guess, but it's not the same without you."

"I won't be gone forever. Just long enough to find Arron."

"That could take forever."

"It won't, I promise, Claire. I can do things that will make it easier."

"You better come back."

"I will. Okay?"

Claire nodded and gave Kay a brief hug. Kay looked up and saw Josh looking at her. She stepped out of sight and was gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a slow update. I've had to focus on other things in life and other stories. If you like this story, check out my other ones and follow me on twitter for updates and creative blurbs. @EmeryldL


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